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LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

"  An  EVENING  PARTY  "    ....  Frontispiece 

"  Carpenters  always  at  work  for  the  comfort 

of  the  plantation  ".....  2 
"Accompanied  by  one  of  these  smiling  '  indis- 

pensables  '  " 4 

"  i  use  to  watch  for  de  carriage  "  .  .  .  io 
"  i  don't  want  be  free  no  mo?  "  .  .  .  .12 
"  she  always  returned  in  a  cart  "  l8 

"READING  AND  REPEATING  VERSES  TO  him"    .  .        26 

"  my  grandmother  would  show  us  the  step  of 

the  minuet  "    .         .         .         .         .         .         -32 

"There  were  old  gentlemen  visitors"  .  .  34 
"Now,  Marster,  you  done  forgot  all  'bout 

DAT  " 36 

"  Three  women  would  clean  up  one  chamber  "  42 

"  Lunch  by  some  cool,  shady  spring  "  66 
"His  mission  on  earth  seemed  to  be  keeping 

the  brightest  silver  urns"  .        ...  78 

"  How  dey  does  grow  !" 86 

"Where  is  my  mutton?  " 98 

"  Aunt  Fanny  '  spersed  dat  crowd  '  "          .        .  160 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00009160105 


GIRL'S  LIFE 

IN  VIRGINIA 


BEFORE    THE    WAR 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://archive.org/details/girlslifeinvirgiburw 


_. 


:AN  EVENING  PARTY."— Page  115. 


A  GIRL'S  LIFE 

IN  VIRGINIA 

BEFORE  THE   WAR 


BY 

Letitia  M.  Burwell 


WITH  SIXTEEN  FULL-PA  GE 
ILL  US  TEA  TIONS  BY 

William  A.  McCullough  and  Jules  Turcas 


1Revv  lorfc 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copvjrfgbt,  1895,  by 
jfre&ertcft  H.  Stofees  Company. 


DEDICATION. 

Dedicated  to  my  nieces,  who  will  find  in  English 
and  American  publications  such  expressions  ap- 
plied to  their  ancestors  as  :  "  cruel  slave-owners  "  ; 
"inhuman  wretches" ;  "southern  taskmasters"  j 
"  dealers  in  human  souls"  etc.  From  these  they 
will  naturally  recoil  with  horror.  My  own  life 
would  have  been  embittered  had  I  believed  myself 
to  be  descended  from  such  monsters ;  and  that 
those  who  come  after  us  may  know  the  truth,  I 
wish  to  leave  a  record  of  plantation  life  as  it  was. 
The  truth  may  tints  be  preserved  among  a  few, 
and  merited  praise  may  be  awarded  to  noble  men 
and  virtuous  women  who  have  passed  away. 

L.  M.  B. 


A  GIRL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 
BEFORE  THE  WAR 


CHAPTER   I. 

That  my  birthplace  should  have  been  a 
Virginia  plantation,  my  lot  in  life  cast  on  a 
Virginia  plantation,  my  ancestors,  for  nine 
generations,  owners  of  Virginia  plantations, 
remain  facts  mysterious  and  inexplicable 
but  to  Him  who  determined  the  bounds  of 
our  habitations,  and  said  :  "  Be  still,  and 
know  that  I  am  God." 

Confined  exclusively  to  a  Virginia  plan- 
tation during  my  earliest  childhood,  I 
believed  the  world  one  vast  plantation 
bounded  by  negro  quarters.  Rows  of  white 
cabins  with  gardens  attached  ;  negro  men  in 
the  fields ;  negro  women  sewing,  knitting, 
spinning,  weaving,  housekeeping  in  the 
cabins ;  with  negro  children  dancing,  romp- 
ing,   singing,  jumping,  playing   around  the 


2  Ji  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

doors, — these  formed  the  only  pictures 
familiar   to   my   childhood. 

The  master's  residence — as  the  negroes 
called  it,  "  the  great  house  " — occupied  a 
central  position  and  was  handsome  and 
attractive,  the  overseer's  being  a  plainer 
house  about  a  mile  from  this. 

Each  cabin  had  as  much  pine  furniture  as 
the  occupants  desired,  pine  and  oak  being 
abundant,  and  carpenters  always  at  work  for 
the  comfort  of  the  plantation. 

Bread,  meat,  milk,  vegetables,  fruit,  and 
fuel  were  as  plentiful  as  water  in  the  springs 
near  the  cabin  doors. 

Among  the  negroes — one  hundred — on 
our  plantation,  many  had  been  taught  dif- 
ferent trades ;  and  there  were  blacksmiths, 
carpenters,  masons,  millers,  shoemakers, 
weavers,  spinners,  all  working  for  them- 
selves. No  article  of  their  handicraft  ever 
being  sold  from  the  place,  their  industry 
resulted  in  nothing  beyond  feeding  and 
clothing  themselves. 

My  sister  and  myself,  when  very  small 
children,  were  often  carried  to  visit  these 
cabins,  on  which  occasions  no  young  prin- 
cesses could  have  received   from  admiring 


CARPENTERS   ALWAYS   AT  WORK   FOR   THE   COMFORT  OF 
THE  PLANTATION."— Page  Z. 


*BEFO%B  THE  IV A%.  3 

I 
subjects  more  adulation.    Presents  were  laid 

at  our  feet — not  glittering  gems,  but  eggs, 
chestnuts,  popcorn,  walnuts,  melons,  apples, 
sweet  potatoes, — all  their  "  cupboards  "  af- 
forded,— with  a  generosity  unbounded.  This 
made  us  as  happy  as  queens,  and  filled  our 
hearts  with  kindness  and  gratitude  to  our 
dusky  admirers. 

Around  the  cabin  doors  the  young  negroes 
would  quarrel  as  to  who  should  be  his  or 
her  mistress,  some  claiming  me,  and  others 
my  sister. 

All  were  merry-hearted,  and  among  them 
I  never  saw  a  discontented  face.  Their 
amusements  were  dancing  to  the  music  of 
the  banjo,  quilting-parties,  opossum-hunting, 
and  sometimes  weddings  and  parties. 

Many  could  read,  and  in  almost  every  , 
cabin  was  a  Bible.  In  one  was  a  prayer- 
book,  kept  by  one  of  the  men,  a  preacher, 
from  which  he  read  the  marriage  ceremony 
at  the  weddings.  This  man  opened  a  night 
school — charging  twenty-five  cents  a  week — 
hoping  to  create  some  literary  thirst  in  the 
rising  generation,  whose  members,  however, 
preferred  their  nightly  frolics  to  the  school, 
so  it  had  few  patrons. 


4  *A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

Our  house  servants  were  numerous,  polite, 
and  well  trained.  My  mother  selected  those 
most  obliging  in  disposition  and  quickest  at 
learning,  who  were  brought  to  the  house 
at  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  and  in- 
structed in  the  branches  of  household  em- 
ployment. 

These  small  servants  were  always  dressed 
in  the  cleanest,  whitest,  long-sleeved  aprons, 
with  white  or  red  turbans  on  their  heads. 
No  establishment  being  considered  com- 
plete without  a  multiplicity  of  these,  they 
might  be  seen  constantly  darting  about  on 
errands  from  the  house  to  the  kitchen  and 
the  cabins,  upstairs  and  downstairs,  being, 
indeed,  omnipresent  and  indispensable. 

It  was  the  custom  for  a  lady  visitor  to  be 
accompanied  to  her  room  at  night  by  one  of 
these  black,  smiling  "  indispensables,"  who 
insisted  so  good-naturedly  on  performing  all 
offices — combing  her  hair,  pulling  off  her 
slippers,  etc. — that  one  had  not  the  heart  to 
refuse,  although  it  would  have  been  some- 
times more  agreeable  to  be  left  alone. 

The  negroes  were  generally  pleased  at  the 
appearance  of  visitors,  from  whom  they 
were  accustomed  to  receive  some  present  on 


ACCOMPANIED  BY  ONE   OF    THESE  SMILING   '  INDISPENSABLES.'"— J'Oge  4. 


VEFOliE  THE  IVA%  5 

arriving  or  departing;  the  neglect  of  this  rite 
being  regarded  as  a  breach  of  politeness. 

The  old  negroes  were  quite  patriarchal, 
loved  to  talk  about  "  old  times,"  and  exacted 
great  respect  from  the  young  negroes,  and 
also  from  the  younger  members  of  the  white 
family.  We  called  the  old  men  "  Uncle," 
and  the  old  women  "  Aunt," — these  being 
terms  of  respect. 

The  atmosphere  of  our  own  home  was  one 
of  consideration  and  kindness.  The  mere 
recital  of  a  tale  of  suffering  would  make  my 
sister  and  myself  weep  with  sorrow.  And 
I  believe  the  maltreatment  of  one  of  our 
servants — we  had  never  heard  the  word 
"  slave  " — would  have  distressed  us  beyond 
endurance.  We  early  learned  that  happi- 
ness consisted  in  dispensing  it,  and  found  no 
pleasure  greater  than  saving  our  old  dolls, 
toys,  beads,  bits  of  cake  or  candy,  for  the 
cabin  children,  whose  delight  at  receiving 
them  richly  repaid  us.  If  any  of  the  older 
servants  became  displeased  with  us,  we  were 
miserable  until  we  had  restored  the  old 
smile  by  presenting  some  choice  bit  of  sweet- 
meat to  the  offended  one. 

I  remember  that  once,  when   my  grand- 


6  Jl  GVRJSS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

mother  scolded  nurse  Kitty,  saying  :  "  Kitty, 
the  butler  tells  me  you  disturb  the  break- 
fast cream  every  morning  by  dipping  out 
milk  to  wash  your  face,"  I  burst  into  tears, 
and  thought  it  hard  that,  when  there  were  so 
many  cows,  poor  Kitty  could  not  wash  her 
face  in  milk.  Kitty  had  been  told  that  her 
dark  skin  would  be  improved  by  a  milk 
bath,  which  she  had  not  hesitated  to  dip 
every  morning  from  the  breakfast  buckets. 

At  such  establishments  one  easily  acquired 
a  habit  of  being  waited  upon,  there  being 
so  many  servants  with  so  little  to  do.  It 
was  natural  to  ask  for  a  drink  of  water  when 
the  water  was  right  at  hand,  and  to  have 
things  brought  which  you  might  easily  have 
gotten  yourself.  But  these  domestics  were 
so  pleased  at  such  errands,  one  felt  no  hesi- 
tation in  requiring  them.  A  young  lady 
would  ask  black  Nancy  or  Dolly  to  fan  her, 
whereupon  Nancy  or  Dolly  would  laugh 
good-naturedly,  produce  a  large  palm-leaf, 
and  fall  to  fanning  her  young  mistress 
vigorously,  after  which  she  would  be  re- 
warded with  a  bow  of  ribbon,  some  candy, 
or  sweet  cakes. 

The     negroes     made    pocket-money    by 


'BEFORE  THE  WAT{.  7 

selling  their  own  vegetables,  poultry,  eggs, 
etc.,— produced  at  the  master's  expense,  of 
course.  I  often  saw  my  mother  take  out 
her  purse  and  pay  them  liberally  for  fowls, 
eggs,  melons,  sweet  potatoes,  brooms, 
shuck  mats,  and  split  baskets.  The  men 
made  small  crops  of  tobacco  or  potatoes 
for  themselves  on  any  piece  of  ground  they 
chose  to  select. 

My  mother  and  grandmother  were  almost 
always  talking  over  the  wants  of  the  negroes, 
— what  medicine  should  be  sent,  whom  they 
should  visit,  who  needed  new  shoes,  clothes, 
or  blankets, — the  principal  object  of  their 
lives  seeming  to  be  in  providing  these  com- 
forts. The  carriage  was  often  ordered  for 
them  to  ride  around  to  the  cabins  to  dis- 
tribute light-bread,  tea,  and  other  neces- 
saries among  the  sick.  And  besides  em- 
ploying the  best  doctor,  my  grandmother 
always  saw  that  they  received  the  best  nurs- 
ing and  attention. 

In  this  little  plantation  world  of  ours  was 
one  being — and  only  one — who  inspired 
awe  in  every  heart,  being  a  special  terror 
to  small  children.  This  was  the  queen  of 
the  kitchen,    Aunt  Christian,    who  reigned 


8  <A  G1%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

supreme.  She  wore  the  whitest  cotton  cap 
with  the  broadest  of  ruffles  ;  she  was  very 
black  and  very  portly ;  and  her  scepter  was  a 
good-sized  stick,  kept  to  chastise  small  dogs 
and  children  who  invaded  her  territory.  Her 
character,  however,  having  been  long  estab- 
lished, she  had  not  often  occasion  to  use 
this  weapon,  as  these  enemies  kept  out  of 
her  way. 

Her  pride  was  great,  "  for,"  said  she,  "  aint 
I  bin — long  fo'  dis  yer  little  marster  whar  is 
was  born — bakin'  de  bes'  loaf  bread,  an'  bes' 
beat  biscuit  and  rice  waffles,  all  de  time  in 
my  ole  marster  time?  An'  I  bin  manage 
my  own  affa'rs,  an'  I  gwine  manage  my 
own  affa'rs  long  is  I  got  breff.  Kase  I 
'members  'way  back  yonder  in  my  mammy 
time  fo'  de  folks  come  fum  de  King's  Mill 
plantation  nigh  Williamsbu'g.  All  our  black 
folks  done  belonks  to  de  Burl  fambiy  uver 
sence  dey  come  fum  Afiky.  My  gran- 
mammy  'member  dem  times  when  black 
folks  Ian'  here  stark  naked,  an'  white  folks 
hab  to  show  'em  how  to  war  close.  But  we 
all  done  come  fum  all  dat  now,  an'  I  gwine 
manage  my  own  affa'rs." 

She  was  generally  left  to  manage  her  "  own 


rBEFOT{E  THE  WA%.  9 

affa'rs,"  and,  being  a  pattern  of  neatness 
and  industry,  her  fame  went  abroad  from 
Botetourt  even  unto  the  remotest  ends  of 
Mecklenburg  County. 

That  this  marvelous  cooking  was  all  the 
work  of  her  own  hands  I  am,  in  later  years, 
inclined  to  doubt ;  as  she  kept  several  assist- 
ants— a  boy  to  chop  wood,  beat  biscuit,  scour 
tables,  lift  off  pots  and  ovens ;  one  woman 
to  make  the  pastry,  and  another  to  com- 
pound cakes  and  jellies.  But  her  fame  was 
great,  her  pride  lofty,  and  I  would  not  now 
pluck  one  laurel  from  her  wreath. 

This  honest  woman  was  appreciated  by 
my  mother,  but  we  had  no  affinity  for  her 
in  consequence  of  certain  traditions  on  the 
plantation  about  her  severity  to  children. 
Having  no '  children  of  her  own,  a  favorite 
orphan  house-girl,  whenever  my  mother 
went  from  home,  was  left  to  her  care.  This 
girl — now  an  elderly  woman,  and  still  our 
faithful  and  loved  servant — says  she  remem- 
bers to  this  day  her  joy  at  my  mother's 
return  home,  and  her  release  from  Aunt 
Christian.  "  I  nuver  will  forgit,"  to  use  her 
own  words,  "  how  I  use  to  watch  for  de 
carriage  to  bring  miss  home,  an'  how  I  watch 


10  ^  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

up  de  road  an'  run  clappin'  my  han's  an' 
hollerin':  '  Miss  done  come!  an'  I  aint 
gwine  stay  wid  Aunt  Chrishun  no  longer! '  " 
Smiling  faces  always  welcomed  us  home, 
as  the  carriage  passed  through  the  planta- 
tion, and  on  reaching  the  house  we  were 
received  by  the  negroes  about  the  yard 
with  the  liveliest  demonstrations  of  pleasure. 


"  I   USE  TO  WATCH  FOR  DE  CARRIAGE."— Page  9. 


*BEFO%E  THE  W 'A%  n 


CHAPTER    II. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  it  dawned  upon 
my  mind  that  there  were  places  and  people 
different  from  these.  The  plantations  we 
visited  seemed  exactly  like  ours.  The 
same  hospitality  was  everywhere  ;  the  same 
kindliness  existed  between  the  white  family 
and  the  blacks. 

Confined  exclusively  to  plantation  scenes, 
the  most  trifling  incidents  impressed  them- 
selves indelibly  upon  me. 

One  day,  while  my  mother  was  in  the 
yard  attending  to  the  planting  of  some 
shrubbery,  we  saw  approaching  an  old, 
feeble  negro  man,  leaning  upon  his  stick. 
His  clothes  were  nearly  worn  out,  and  he 
was  haggard  and  thin. 

"Good-day,  mistess,"  said  he. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  asked  my  mother. 

"  Mistess,  you  don't  know  John  whar  use 
to  belonks  to  Mars  Edwin  Burl — Mars 
Edwin,  yo'  husban'  uncle,  whar  die  on  de 


12  ^  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

ocean  crossin'to  Europe  for  he  health.  An' 
'fo'  he  start  he  make  he  will  an'  sot  me  free, 
an'  gie  me  money  an'  Ian'  near  Petersbu'g, 
an'  good  house,  too.  But,  mistess,  I  marry 
one  free  mulatto  'oman,  an'  she  ruin  me ; 
she  one  widow  'oman,  an'  she  was'e  all  my 
money  tell  I  aint  got  nothin',  an'  I  don't 
want  be  free  no  mo'.  Please,  mistess,  take 
me  on  yo'  plantation,  an'  don't  let  me  be 
free.  I  done  walk  hund'ed  mile  to  git  yer. 
You  know  Mars  Edwin  think  Miss  Betsy 
gwine  marry  him,  so  he  lef  her  his  Ian' 
an'  black  folks.  But  we  niggers  knowed 
she  done  promis'  twelve  mo'  gen'men 
to  marry  'em.  But  she  take  de  propity 
an'  put  on  long  black  veil  make  like  she 
grievin',  an'  dat's  how  de  folks  all  git  scat- 
tered, an'  I  aint  got  nowhar  to  go  'ceptin' 
hit's  yer." 

I  wondered  what  was  meant  by  being 
"  free,"  and  supposed  from  his  appearance 
it  must  be  some  very  dreadful  and  unfor- 
tunate condition  of  humanity.  My  mother 
heard  him  very  kindly,  and  directed  him  to 
the  kitchen,  where  "Aunt  Christian  "  would 
give  him  plenty  to  eat. 

Although    there   were  already  many   old 


-\ 


* 


%s.\ 


f  "   : 


"i  don't  want  be  free  no  mo."— Page  12. 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%,  13 

negroes  to  be  supported,  who  no  longer 
considered  themselves  young  enough  to 
work,  this  old  man  was  added  to  the 
number,  and  a  cabin  built  for  him.  To  the 
day  of  his  death  he  expressed  gratitude  to 
my  mother  for  taking  care  of  him,  and  often 
entertained  us  with  accounts  of  his  "  old 
marster  times,"  which  he  said  were  the 
"  grandes'  of  all." 

By  way  of  apology  for  certain  knotty 
excrescences  on  his  feet  he  used  to  say : 
"  You  see  dese  yer  knots.  Well,  dey  come 
fum  my  bein'  a  monsus  proud  young 
nigger,  an'  squeezin'  my  feet  in  de  tightes' 
boots  to  drive  my  marster  carriage  'bout 
Petersbu'g.  I  nuver  was  so  happy  as  when 
I  was  drivin'  my  coach  an'  four,  and 
crackin'  de  postilion  over  de  head  wid  my 
whip." 

These  pleasant  reminiscences  were  gener- 
ally concluded  with  :  "  Ah  !  young  misses, 
you  11  nuver  see  sich  times.  No  more  pos- 
tilions !  No  more  coach  an'  four !  And 
niggers  drives  now  widout  white  gloves. 
Ah !  no,  young  misses,  you'll  nuver  see 
nothin' !     Nuver  in  your  time." 

With  these  melancholy  predictions  would 


14  <A  GIT{L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

he  shake  his  head,  and  sigh  that  the  days 
of  glory  had  departed. 

Each  generation  of  blacks  vied  with  the 
other  in  extolling  the  virtues  of  their  par- 
ticular mistress  and  master  and  "  their 
times  "/  but,  notwithstanding  this  mournful 
contrast  between  the  past  and  present,  their 
reminiscences  had  a  certain  charm.  Often 
by  their  cabin  firesides  would  we  listen  to 
the  tales  of  the  olden  days  about  our  fore- 
fathers, of  whom  they  could  tell  much,  hav- 
ing belonged  to  our  family  since  the  landing 
of  the  African  fathers  on  the  English  slave 
ships,  from  which  their  ancestors  had  been 
bought  by  ours.  Among  these  traditions 
none  pleased  us  so  much  as  that  an  unkind 
mistress  or  master  had  never  been  known 
among  our  ancestors,  which  we  have  always 
considered  a  cause  for  greater  pride  than  the 
armorial  bearings  left  on  their  tombstones. 

We  often  listened  with  pleasure  to  the 
recollections  of  an  old  blind  man — the 
former  faithful  attendant  of  our  grandfather 
— whose  mind  was  filled  with  vivid  pictures 
of  the  past.  He  repeated  verbatim  conver- 
sations and  speeches  heard  sixty  years  be- 
fore— from  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr. 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%.  15 

Clay,  and  other  statesmen,  his  master's 
special   friends. 

"  Yes,"  he  used  to  say,  "  I  stay  wid  your 
grandpa  ten  years  in  Congress,  an'  all  de 
time  he  was  secretary  for  President  Jeffer- 
son. He  nuver  give  me  a  cross  word,  an'  I 
nuver  saw  your  grandma  de  leas'  out  of 
temper  nuther  but  once,  an'  dat  was  at  a 
dinner  party  we  give  in  Washington,  when 
de  French  Minister  said  something  disre- 
spectful 'bout  de  United  States." 

Often  did  he  tell  us :  "  De  greates'  pleas- 
ure I  'spect  in  heaven  is  seein'  my  old 
marster."  And  sometimes :  "  I  dreams  'bout 
my  marster  an'  mistess  when  I'se  asleep, 
an'  talks  wid  'em  an'  sees  'em  so  plain  it 
makes  me  so  happy  I  laughs  out  right  loud." 

This  man  was  true  and  honest,- — a  good 
Christian.  Important  trusts  had  been  con- 
fided to  him.  He  frequently  drove  the 
carriage  and  horses  to  Washington  and 
Baltimore, — a  journey  of  two  weeks, — and 
was  sometimes  sent  to  carry  large  sums  of 
money  to  a  distant  county. 

His  wife,  who  had  accompanied  him  in 
her  youth  to  Washington,  also  entertained 
us  with  gossip  about  the  people  of  that  day, 


1 6  <A  GFRjJS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

and  could  tell  exactly  the  size  and  color  of 
Mrs.  Madison's  slippers,  how  she  was  dressed 
on  certain  occasions,  "  what  beautiful 
manners  she  had,"  how  Mr.  Jefferson  re- 
ceived master  and  mistress  when  "  we " 
drove  up  to  Monticello,  what  room  they 
occupied,  etc. 

Although  my  grandfather's  death  oc- 
curred thirty  years  before,  the  negroes  still 
remembered  it  with  sorrow ;  and  one  of 
them,  speaking  of  it,  said  to  me:  "  Ah,  little 
mistess,  'twas  a  /,sorrowful  day  when  de 
news  come  frorr/Washington  dat  our  good, 
kind  marster  was  dead.  A  mighty  wail  went 
up  from  dis  plantation,  for  we  know'd  we 
had  los'  our  bes'  friend." 

The  only  negro  on  the  place  who  did  not 
evince  an  interest  in  the  white  family  was  a 
man  ninety  years  old,  who,  forty  years  be- 
fore, announced  his  intention  of  not  working 
any  longer, — although  still  strong  and  ath- 
letic,— because,  he  said,  "  the  estate  had  done 
come  down  so  he  hadn't  no  heart  to  work 
no  longer."  He  remembered,  he  said, 
"  when  thar  was  three  an'  four  hund'ed 
black  folks,  but  sence  de  British  debt  had  to 
be   paid    over   by   his   old   marster,   an'  de 


<BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  17 

Macklenbu'g  estate  had  to  be  sold,  he  hadn't 
had  no  heart  to  do  nothin'  sence."  And 
"  he  hadn't  seen  no  real  fine  white  folks — 
what  he  called  real  fine  white  folks — sence 
he  come  from  Macklenbu'g."  All  his  inter- 
est in  life  having  expired  with  an  anterior 
generation,  we  were  in  his  eyes  but  a  poor 
set,  and  he  refused  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  us.  Not  being  compelled  to  work,  he 
passed  his  life  principally  in  the  woods,  and 
wore  a  rabbit-skin  cap  and  a  leather  apron. 
Having  lost  interest  in  and  connection  with 
the  white  family,  he  gradually  relapsed  into 
a  state  of  barbarism,  refusing  toward  the 
end  of  his  life  to  sleep  in  his  bed,  preferring 
a  hard  bench  in  his  cabin,  upon  which  he 
died. 

Another  very  old  man  remembered  some- 
thing of  his  father,  who  had  come  from 
Africa ;  and  when  we  asked  him  to  tell  us 
what  he  remembered  of  his  father's  narra- 
tions, would  say : 

"  My  daddy  tell  we  chillun  how  he 
mammy  liv'  in  hole  in  de  groun'  in  Afiky,  an' 
when  a  Englishmun  come  to  buy  him,  she 
sell  him  fur  a  string  o'  beads.  An'  'twas 
monsus  hard  when  he  fus'  come  here  to  war 


1 8  <y?  G1%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

close  ;  ev'y  chance  he  git  he  pull  off  he  close 
an'  go  naked,  kase  folks  don't  war  no  close 
in  he  country.  When  daddy  git  mad  wid 
we  chillun,  mammy  hide  us,  kase  he  kill  us. 
Sometime  he  say  he  gwine  sing  he  country, 
an'  den  he  dance  an'  jump  an'  howl  tell 
he  skeer  we  chillun  to  deaf." 

They  spoke  always  of  their  forefathers  as 
the  "  outlandish  people." 

On  some  plantations  it  was  a  custom  to 
buy  the  wife  when  a  negro  preferred  to 
marry  on  another  estate.  And  in  this  way 
we  became  possessed  of  a  famous  termagant, 
who  had  married  our  grandfather's  gardener, 
quarreled  him  to  death  in  one  year,  and  sur- 
vived to  quarrel  forty  years  longer  with  the 
other  negroes.  She  allowed  no  children 
about  her  cabin — not  even  a  cat  or  dog 
could  live  with  her.  She  had  been  offered 
her  freedom,  but  refused  to  accept  it. 
Several  times  she  had  been  given  away — once 
to  her  son,  a  free  man,  and  to  others  with 
whom  she  fancied  she  might  live — but,  like 
the  bad  penny,  was  always  returned  to  us. 
She  always  returned  in  a  cart,  seated  on  top 
of  her  wooden  chest  and  surrounded  by  her 
goods  and  chattels.     She  was  dressed  in  a 


<si 


f\ 


• 


"SHE   ALWAYS   RETURNED  IN   A  CART."— Page  18 


'BEFOTiE  THE  IV A%.  19 

high  hat  with  a  long  black  plume  standing 
straight  up,  gay  cloth  spencer,  and  short 
petticoat, — the  costume  of  a  hundred  years 
ago.  Although  her  return  was  a  sore  afflic- 
tion to  the  plantation,  my  sister  and  myself 
found  much  amusement  in  witnessing  it. 
The  cold  welcome  she  received  seemed  not 
to  affect  her  spirits,  but,  re-establishing  her- 
self in  her  cabin,  she  quickly  resumed  the 
turbulent  course  of  her  career. 

Finally  one  morning  the  news  came  that 
this  woman,  old  Clara,  was  dead.  Two 
women  went  to  sweep  her  cabin  and  per- 
form the  last  sad  offices.  They  waited  all 
day  for  the  body  to  get  cold.  While  sitting 
over  the  fire  in  the  evening,  one  of  them, 
happening  to  glance  at  a  small  mirror  in- 
serted in  the  wall  near  the  bed,  exclaimed  : 
"  Old  Clara's  laughing  !  "  They  went  nearer, 
and  there  was  a  horrible  grin  on  the  face  of 
the  corpse  !  Old  Clara  sprang  out  of  bed, 
exclaiming :  "  Git  me  some  meat  and  bread. 
I'm  most  perish 'd  !  " 

"  Ole  'oman,  what    you  mean   by  foolin' 
us  so  ?  "  asked  the  nurses. 

"  I  jes'  want  see  what  you  all  gwine  do 
wid  my  things  when   I   was  dade  !  "  replied 


20  <A  GIT{L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

the  old  woman,  whose  "  things  "  consisted 
of  all  sorts  of  old  and  curious  spencers,  hats, 
plumes,  necklaces,  caps,  and  dresses,  col- 
lected during  her  various  wanderings,  and 
worn  by  a  generation  long  past. 

Among  these  old  cabin  legends  we  some- 
times collected  bits  of  romance,  and  were 
often  told  how,  by  the  coquetry  of  a  certain 
Richmond  belle,  we  had  lost  a  handsome 
fortune,  which  impressed  me  even  then  with 
the  fatal  consequences  of  coquetry. 

This  belle  engaged  herself  to  our  great- 
uncle,  a  handsome  and  accomplished  gentle- 
man, who,  to  improve  his  health,  went  to 
Europe,  but  before  embarking  made  his 
will,  leaving  her  his  estate  and  negroes.  He 
died  abroad,  and  the  lady  accepted  his 
property,  although  she  was  known  to  have 
been  engaged  to  twelve  others  at  the  same 
time !  The  story  in  Richmond  ran  that 
these  twelve  gentlemen — my  grandfather 
among  them — had  a  wine  party,  and  toward 
the  close  of  the  evening  some  of  them,  be- 
coming communicative,  began  taking  each 
other  out  to  tell  a  secret,  when  it  was  dis- 
covered they  all  had  the  same  secret — each 
was  engaged  to  Miss  Betsy  McC  .  .  .      This 


'BEFORE  THE  WAT{.  21 

lady's  name  is  still  seen  on  fly  leaves  of  old 
books  in  our  library, — books  used  during  her 
reign  by  students  at  William  and  Mary  Col- 
lege,— showing  that  the  young  gentlemen, 
even  at  that  venerable  institution,  sometimes 
allowed  their  classic  thoughts  to  wander. 


<A  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER  III. 

As  soon  as  my  sister  and  myself  had 
learned  to  read  and  cipher,  we  were  inspired 
with  a  desire  to  teach  the  negroes  who  were 
about  the  house  and  kitchen  ;  and  my 
father  promised  to  reward  my  sister  with  a 
handsome  guitar  if  she  would  teach  two 
boys — designed  for  mechanics — arithmetic. 

Our  regular  system  was  every  night  to 
place  chairs  around  the  dining-table,  ring  a 
bell,  and  open  school,  she  presiding  at  one 
end  of  the  table  and  I  at  the  other,  each 
propped  up  on  books  to  give  us  the  neces- 
sary height  and  dignity  for  teachers. 

Our  school  proved  successful.  The  boys 
learned  arithmetic,  and  the  guitar  was 
awarded.  All  who  tried  learned  to  read, 
and  from  that  day  we  have  never  ceased  to 
teach  all  who  desired  to  learn. 

Thus  my  early  life  was  passed  amid  scenes 
cheerful  and  agreeable,  nor  did  anyone  seem 
to  have  any  care  except  my  mother.     Her 


rBEFOcKB  THE  IV A%  23 

cares  and  responsibilities  were  great,  with 
one  hundred  people  continually  upon  her 
mind,  who  were  constantly  appealing  to  her 
in  every  strait,  real  or  imaginary.  But  it  had 
pleased  God  to  place  her  here,  and  nobly 
did  she  perform  the  duties  of  her  station. 
She  often  told  us  of  her  distress  on  realizing 
for  the  first  time  the  responsibilities  devolv- 
ing upon  the  mistress  of  a  large  plantation, 
and  the  nights  of  sorrow  and  tears  these 
thoughts  had  given  her. 

On  her  arrival  at  the  plantation  after  her 
marriage,  the  negroes  received  her  with 
lively  demonstrations  of  joy,  clapping  their 
hands  and  shouting  :  "  Thank  God,  we  got 
a  mistess ! "  some  of  them  throwing  them- 
selves on  the  ground  at  her  feet  in  their 
enthusiasm. 

The  plantation  had  been  without  a  master 
or  mistress  for  twelve  years,  my  father,  the 
sole  heir,  having  been  away  at  school  and 
college.  During  this  time  the  silver  had 
been  left  in  the  house,  and  the  servants 
had  kept  and  used  it,  but  nothing  had  been 
stolen. 

The  books,  too,  had  been  undisturbed  in 
the  library,  except  a  few  volumes  of  the  poets, 


24  <J  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

which  had  been  carried  to  adorn  some  of  the 
cabin  shelves. 

It  was  known  by  the  negroes  that  their 
old  master's  will  set  them  free  and  gave 
them  a  large  body  of  land  in  the  event  of 
my  father's  death  ;  and  some  of  his  college 
friends  suggested  that  he  might  be  killed 
while  passing  his  vacations  on  his  estate. 
But  this  only  amused  him,  for  he  knew  too 
well  in  what  affection  he  was  held  by  his 
negroes,  and  how  each  vied  with  the  other 
in  showing  him  attention,  often  spreading 
a  dinner  for  him  at  their  cabins  when  he 
returned  from  hunting  or  fishing. 

I  think  I  have  written  enough  to  show  the 
mutual  affection  existing  between  the  white 
and  black  races,  and  the  abundant  provision 
generally  made  for  the  wants  of  those  whom 
God  had  mysteriously  placed  under  our 
care. 

The  existence  of  extreme  want  and 
poverty  had  never  entered  my  mind  until 
one  day  my  mother  showed  us  some  pic- 
tures entitled  "  London  Labor  and  London 
Poor,"  when  we  asked  her  if  she  believed 
there  were  such  poor  people  in  the  world, 
and  she  replied  :  "  Yes,   children,  there  are 


•BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  25 

many  in  this  world  who  have  nowhere  to 
sleep  and  nothing  to  eat." 

Still  we  could  not  realize  what  she  said, 
for  we  had  never  seen  a  beggar.  But  from 
that  time  it  began  to  dawn  upon  us  that  all 
the  world  was  not  a  plantation,  with  more 
than  enough  on  it  for  people  to  eat.  And 
when  we  were  old  enough  to  read  and  to  com- 
pare our  surroundings  with  what  we  learned 
about  other  countries,  we  found  that  our 
laboring  population  was  more  bountifully 
supplied  than  that  of  any  other  land.  We 
read  about  "  myriads  of  poor,  starving  crea- 
tures, with  pinched  faces  and  tattered  gar- 
ments," in  far-off  cities  and  countries.  We 
read  of  hundreds  who,  from  destitution  and 
wretchedness,  committed  suicide.  We  read 
these  things,  but  could  not  fully  sympathize 
with  such  want  and  suffering  ;  for  it  is  neces- 
sary to  witness  these  in  order  to  feel  the 
fullest  sympathy,  and  we  had  never  seen 
anything  of  the  kind  on  our  own  or  our 
neighbors'  plantations. 

Our  negroes'  religious  instruction,  I  found, 
had  not  been  more  neglected  than  among 
the  lower  classes  in  England,  Ireland, 
France,   and    elsewhere.      Every    church— 


26  ^  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

there  was  one  of  some  denomination  near 
every  plantation — had  special  seats  reserved 
for  the  negroes.  The  minister  always  ad- 
dressed a  portion  of  his  sermon  particularly 
to  them,  and  held  service  for  them  ex- 
clusively on  Sabbath  afternoons.  Besides, 
they  had  their  own  ministers  among  them- 
selves, and  held  night  prayer-meetings  in 
their  cabins  whenever  they  chose. 

Many  prayers  ascended  from  earnest  hearts 
for  their  conversion,  and  I  knew  no  home  at 
which  some  effort  was  not  made  for  their 
religious  instruction. 

One  of  our  friends — a  Presbyterian  min- 
ister and  earnest  Christian — devoted  the 
greater  part  of  his  time  to  teaching  and 
preaching  to  them,  and  many  pious  minis- 
ters throughout  the  State  bestowed  upon 
them  time  and  labor. 

I  once  attended  a  gay  party  where  the 
young  lady  of  the  house,  the  center  of  at- 
traction, hearing  that  one  of  the  negroes 
was  suddenly  very  ill,  excused  herself  from 
the  company,  carried  her  prayer-book  to  the 
cabin,  and  passed  the  night  by  the  bedside 
of  the  sick  man,  reading  and  repeating  verses 
to  him.     I  have  also  had  young  lady  friends 


%    * 


"'V 


"READING   AND  REPEATING  VERSES   TO   HIM."— Page  26. 


eBEFOT{E  THE  WA%.  27 

who  declined  attending  a  wedding  or  party 
when  a  favorite  servant  was  ill. 

On  one  occasion  an  English  gentleman — 
a  surgeon  in  the  Royal  Artillery — visiting  at 
our  house,  accompanied  us  to  a  wedding, 
and,  hearing  that  two  young  ladies  had  not 
attended  on  account  of  the  illness  of  a  negro 
servant,  said  to  me  :  "  This  would  not  have 
occurred  in  England,  and  will  scarcely  be 
believed  when  I  tell  it  on  my  return." 

The  same  gentleman  expressed  astonish- 
ment  at  one  of  our  neighbors  sitting  up  all 
night  to  nurse  one  of  his  negroes  who  was 
ill.  He  was  amused  at  the  manner  of  our 
servants'  identifying  themselves  with  the 
master  and  his  possessions,  always  speaking 
of  "  our  horses,"  "  our  cows,"  "  our  crop," 
"our  mill,"  "our  blacksmith's  shop,"  "our 
carriage,"  "  our  black  folks,"  etc.  He  told 
us  that  he  also  observed  a  difference  be- 
tween our  menials  and  those  of  his  own 
country,  in  that,  while  here  they  were  indi- 
vidualized, there  they  were  known  by  the 
names  of  "  Boots,"  "  'Ostler,"  "  Driver," 
"  Footman,"  "  Cook,"  "  Waiter,"  "  Scullion," 
etc.  On  our  plantations  the  most  insignificant 
stable-boy  felt  himself  of  some  importance. 


28  j}  GVRJJS  LIFE  IN  Vl%GlMA 

When  I  heard  Mr.  Dickens  read  scenes 
from  "  Nicholas  Nickleby,"  the  tone  of  voice 
in  which  he  personated  Smike  sent  a  chill 
through  me,  for  I  had  never  before  heard  the 
human  voice  express  such  hopeless  despair. 
Can  there  be  in  England,  thought  I,  human 
beings  afraid  of  the  sound  of  their  own 
voices? 

There  was  a  class  of  men  in  our  State  who 
made  a  business  of  buying  negroes  to  sell 
again  farther  south.  These  we  never  met, 
and  held  in  horror.  But  even  they,  when 
we  reflect,  could  not  have  treated  them  with 
inhumanity ;  for  what  man  would  pay  a 
thousand  dollars  for  a  piece  of  property,  and 
fail  to  take  the  best  possible  care  of  it  ?  The 
"  traders  "  usually  bought  their  negroes  when 
an  estate  became  involved,  for  the  owners 
could  not  be  induced  to  part  with  their 
negroes  until  the  last  extremity — when 
everything  else  had  been  seized  by  their 
creditors.  Houses,  lands, — everything  went 
first  before  giving  up  the  negroes ;  the 
owner  preferring  to  impoverish  himself  in 
the  effort  to  keep  and  provide  for  these, — 
which  was  unwise  financially,  and  would  not 
have  been  thought  of  by  a  mercenary  people. 


"BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  29 

But  it  was  hard  to  part  with  one's  "  own 
people,"  and  to  see  them  scattered.  Still  our 
debts  had  to  be  paid, — often  security  debts 
after  the  death  of  the  owner,  when  all  had 
to  be  sold.  And  who  of  us  but  can  remem- 
ber the  tears  of  anguish  caused  by  this,  and 
scenes  of  sorrow  to  which  we  can  never 
revert  without  the  keenest  grief  ?  Yet,  like 
all  events  in  this  checkered  human  life,  even 
these  sometimes  turned  out  best  for  the 
negroes,  when  by  this  means  they  exchanged 
unpleasant  for  agreeable  homes.  Still  it 
appeared  to  me  a  great  evil,  and  often  did 
I  pray  that  God  would  make  us  a  way  of 
escape  from  it.  But  His  ways  are  past  find- 
ing out,  and  why  He  had  been  pleased  to 
order  it  thus  we  shall  never  know. 

Instances  of  harsh  or  cruel  treatment  were 
rare.  I  never  heard  _of  more  Jthan,  two, 
or  three  individuals  who  were  "  hard  "  or 
utfklnd    to   their    negroes,    ancT  These    were 

*^tTacizell"~~froTTi'''respecta"bTe"society,    their., 
very   Harrres   bringing   fepl;oac'h^  ajnd __blight 

""upohtlieir  descendants. 

"We  knew  of  but  one  instance  of  cruelty  on 
our  plantation,  and  that  was  when  "  Uncle 
Joe,"  the   blacksmith,    burned  his  nephew's 


30  ^  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

face  with  a  hot  iron.  The  man  carries  the 
scar  to  this  day,  and  in  speaking  of  it  always 
says :  "  Soon  as  my  marster  fin'  out  how 
Uncle  Joe  treated  me,  he  wouldn't  let  me 
work  no  mo'  in  his  shop." 


^BEFOliE  THE  W 'A%  31 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  extent  of  these  estates  precluding  the 
possibility  of  near  neighbors,  their  isolation 
would  have  been  intolerable  but  for  the 
custom  of  visiting  which  prevailed  among 
us.  Many  houses  were  filled  with  visitors 
the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  these  usually 
remained  two  or  three  weeks.  Visiting  tours 
were  made  in  our  private  carriages,  each 
family  making  at  least  one  such  tour  a  year. 
Nor  was  it  necessary  to  announce  these  visits 
by  message  or  letter,  each  house  being  con- 
sidered always  ready,  and  "  entertaining 
company "  being  the  occupation  of  the 
people.  Sometimes  two  or  three  carriages 
might  be  descried  in  the  evening  coming  up 
to  the  door  through  the  Lombardy  poplar 
avenue, — the  usual  approach  to  many  old 
houses;  whereupon  ensued  a  lively  flutter 
among  small  servants,  who,  becoming  gener- 
ally excited,  speedily  got  them  into  their 
clean  aprons,  and  ran  to  open  gates  and  to 


32  Jl  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

remove  parcels  from  carriages.  Lady  visitors 
were  always  accompanied  by  colored  maids, 
although  sure  of  finding  a  superfluity  of  these 
at  each  establishment.  The  mistress  of  the 
house  always  received  her  guests  in  the  front 
porch,  with  a  sincere  and  cordial  greeting. 

These  visiting  friends  at  my  own  home 
made  an  impression  upon  me  that  no  time 
can  efface.  I  almost  see  them  now,  those 
dear,  gentle  faces,  my  mother's  early  friends, 
and  those  delightful  old  ladies,  in  close  bor- 
dered tarlatan  caps,  who  used  to  come  to 
see  my  grandmother.  These  last  would  sit 
round  the  fire,  knitting  and  talking  over  their 
early  memories  :  how  they  remembered  the 
red  coats  of  the  British ;  how  they  had  seen 
the  Richmond  theater  burn  down,  with  some 
of  their  family  burned  in  it ;  how  they  used 
to  wear  such  beautiful  turbans  of  crepe  lisse  to 
the  Cartersville  balls,  and  how  they  used  to 
dance  the  minuet.  At  mention  of  this  my 
grandmother  would  lay  off  her  spectacles, 
put  aside  her  knitting,  rise  with  dignity, — she 
was  very  tall, — and  show  us  the  step  of  the 
minuet,  gliding  slowly  and  majestically 
around  the  room.  Then  she  would  say : 
"  Ah,  children,  you  will  never  see  anything 


MY  GRANDMOTHER   WOULD  SHOW   US   THE  STEP  OF 
THE   MINUET."— Page  32. 


VEFOliE  THE  WA%  33 

as  graceful  as  the  minuet.  Such  jump- 
ing around  as  you  see  would  not  have  been 
regarded  as  dignified  in  my  day ! " 

My  mother's  friends  belonged  to  a  later 
generation,  and  were  types  of  women  whom 
to  have  known  I  shall  ever  regard  as  a  bless- 
ing and  privilege.  They  combined  intelli- 
gence with  exquisite  refinement ;  and  their 
annual  visits  gave  my  mother  the  greatest 
happiness,  which  we  soon  learned  to  share 
and  appreciate. 

As  Ijlook  upon  these  ladies  as  models  for 
our  sex  through  all  time,  I  enumerate  some 
of  their  charms : 

Entire  absence  of  pretense  made  them 
always  attractive.  Having  no  "  parlor  "  or 
"  company  "  manners  to  assume,  they  pre- 
served at  all  times  a  gentle,  natural,  easy 
demeanor  and  conversation.  They  had  not 
dipped  into  the  sciences,  attempted  by  some 
of  our  sex  at  the  present  day  ;  but  the  study 
of  Latin  and  French,  with  general  reading  in 
their  mother  tongue,  rendered  them  intelli- 
gent companions  for  cultivated  men.  They 
also  possessed  the  rare  gift  of  reading  well 
aloud,  and  wrote  letters  unsurpassed  in  pen- 
manship and  style. 


34  <A  Gl%US  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

Italian  and  German  professors  being  rare 
in  that  day,  their  musical  acquirements  did 
not  extend  beyond  the  simplest  piano 
accompaniments  to  old  English  and  Scotch 
airs,  which  they  sang  in  a  sweet,  natural 
voice,  and  which  so  enchanted  the  beaux  of 
their  time  that  the  latter  never  afterward 
became  reconciled  to  any  higher  order  of 
music. 

These  model  women  also  managed  their 
household  affairs  admirably,  and  were  uni- 
formly kind  to,  but  never  familiar  with,  their 
servants.  They  kept  ever  before  them  the 
Bible  as  their  constant  guide  and  rule  in 
life,  and  were  surely,  as  nearly  as  possible, 
holy  in  thought,  word,  and  deed.  I  have 
looked  in  vain  for  such  women  in  other 
lands,  but  have  failed  to  find  them. 

Then  there  were  old  gentlemen  visitors, 
beaux  of  my  grandmother's  day,  still  wearing 
queues,  wide-ruffled  bosoms,  short  breeches, 
and  knee  buckles.  These  pronounced  the  a 
very  broad,  sat  a  long  time  over  their  wine 
at  dinner,  and  carried  in  their  pockets  gold 
or  silver  snuffboxes  presented  by  some 
distinguished  individual  at  some  remote 
period. 


THERE   WERE   OLD  GENTLEMEN   VISITORS." — Page  34. 


<BEFOT{E  THE  WA%  35 

Our  visiting  acquaintance  extended  from 
Botetourt  County  to  Richmond,  and  among 
them  were  jolly  old  Virginia  gentlemen 
and  precise  old  Virginia  gentlemen  ;  eccen- 
tric old  Virginia  gentlemen  and  prosy  old 
Virginia  gentlemen  ;  courtly  old  Virginia 
gentlemen  and  plain-mannered  old  Virginia 
gentlemen  ;  charming  old  Virginia  gentle- 
men and  uninteresting  old  Virginia  gentle- 
men. Many  of  them  had  graduated  years 
and  years  ago  at  William  and  Mary  College. 

Then  we  had  another  set,  of  a  later  day, — 
those  who  graduated  in  the  first  graduating 
class  at  the  University  of  Virginia  when 
that  institution  was  first  established.  These 
happened — all  that  we  knew — to  have 
belonged  to  the  same  class,  and  often 
amused  us,  without  intending  it,  by  revert- 
ing to  that  fact  in  these  words : 

"  That  was  a  remarkable  class !  Every 
man  in  that  class  made  his  mark  in  law, 
letters,  or  politics  !  Let  me  see :  There  was 
Toombs.  There  was  Charles  Mosby.  There 
was  Alexander  Stuart.  There  was  Burwell. 
There  was  R.  M.  T.  Hunter," — and  so  on, 
calling  each  by  name  except  himself,  know- 
ing that  the  others  never  failed  to  do  that ! 


36  tA  Gl\L'S  LIFE  IN  VIT{GINI4 

Edgar  Poe  and  Alexander  Stephens  of 
Georgia  were  also  at  the  university  with 
these  gentlemen. 

Although  presenting  an  infinite  variety  of 
mind,  manner,  and  temperament,  all  the 
gentlemen  who  visited  us,  young  and  old, 
possessed  in  common  certain  characteristics, 
one  of  which  was  a  deference  to  ladies  which 
made  us  feel  that  we  had  been  put  in  the 
world  especially  to  be  waited  upon  by  them. 
Their  standard  for  woman  was  high.  They 
seemed  to  regard  her  as  some  rare  and  costly 
statue  set  in  a  niche  to  be  admired  and  never 
taken  down. 

Another  peculiarity  they  had  in  common 
was  a  habit — which  seemed  irresistible—of 
tracing  people  back  to  the  remotest  genera- 
tion, and  appearing  inconsolable  if  ever  they 
failed  to  find  out  the  pedigree  of  any  given 
individual  for  at  least  four  generations. 
This,  however,  was  an  innocent  pastime, 
from  which  they  seemed  to  derive  much 
pleasure  and  satisfaction,  and  which  should 
not  be  regarded,  even  in  this  advanced  age, 
as  a  serious  fault. 

Among  our  various  visitors  was  a  kins- 
man— of  whom  I  often  heard,  but  whom  I 


"NOW,  MARSTER,  YOU   DONE   FORGOT  ALL  'BOUT  DAT."— Page  37. 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%.  37 

do  not  recollect — a  bachelor  of  eighty  years, 
always  accompanied  by  his  negro  servant  as 
old  as  himself.  Both  had  the  same  name, 
Louis,  pronounced  like  the  French,  and 
this  aged  pair  had  been  so  long  together 
they  could  not  exist  apart,  Black  Louis 
rarely  left  his  master's  side,  assisting  in  the 
conversation  if  his  master  became  perplexed 
or  forgetful.  When  his  master  talked  in  the 
parlor,  black  Louis  always  planted  his  chair 
in  the  middle  of  the  doorsill,  every  now  and 
then  correcting  or  reminding  with  :  "  Now, 
marster,  dat  warn't  Colonel  Taylor's  horse 
dat  won  dat  race  dat  day.  You  and  me  was 
dar."  Or:  "  Now,  marster,  you  done  forgot 
all  'bout  dat.  Dat  was  in  de  year  1779,  an' 
dis'xs  de  way  it  happened,"  etc.,  much  to  the 
amusement  of  the  company  assembled.  All 
this  was  said,  I  am  told,  most  respectfully, 
although  the  old  negro  in  a  manner  possessed 
his  master,  having  entire  charge  and  com- 
mand of  him. 

The  negroes  often  felt  great  pride  in 
"our  white  people,"  as  they  called  their 
owners,  and  loved  to  brag  about  what  "  our 
white  people "  did  and  what  "  our  white 
people  "  had. 


38  <A  G1%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

On  one  occasion  it  became  necessary  for 
my  sister  and  myself  to  ride  a  short  distance 
in  a  public  conveyance.  A  small  colored 
boy,  who  helped  in  our  dining  room,  had  to 
get  in  the  same  stage.  Two  old  gentlemen, 
strangers  to  us,  sitting  opposite,  supposing 
we  had  fallen  asleep  when  we  closed  our 
eyes  to  keep  out  the  dust,  commenced  talk- 
ing about  us.  Said  one  to  the  other :  "  Now, 
those  children  will  spoil  their  Sunday  bon- 
nets." Whereupon  our  colored  boy  spoke 
up  quickly:  "Umph  !  you  think  dents  my 
mistesses'  Sunday  bonnets?  Umph!  you 
jes  ought  to  see  what  dey  got  up  dar  on 
top  de  stage  in  dar  bandbox!"  At  this 
we  both  laughed,  for  the  boy  had  never  seen 
our  "  Sunday  bonnets,"  nor  did  he  know 
that  we  possessed  any. 


^BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  39 


CHAPTER  V. 

English  books  never  fail  to  make  honor- 
able mention  of  a  "  roast  of  beef,"  "  a  leg 
of  mutton,"  "a  dish  of  potatoes,"  "a  disli 
of  tea,"  etc.,  while  with  us  the  abundance 
of  such  things  gave  them,  we  thought,  not 
enough  importance  to  be  particularized. 
Still  my  reminiscences  extend  to  these. 

Every  Virginia  housewife  knew  how  to 
compound  all  the  various  dishes  in  Mrs. 
Randolph's  cookery  book,  and  our  tables 
were  filled  with  every  species  of  meat  and 
vegetable  to  be  found  on  a  plantation,  with 
every  kind  of  cakes,  jellies,  and  blanc-mange 
to  be  concocted  out  of  eggs,  butter,  and 
cream,  besides  an  endless  catalogue  of  pre- 
serves, sweetmeats,  pickles,  and  condi- 
ments. So  that  in  the  matter  of  good  liv- 
ing, both  as  to  abundance  and  the  manner 
of  serving,  a  Virginia  plantation  could  not 
be  excelled. 

The  first  specialty  being  good  loaf  bread, 


40  <A  Gl%VS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

there  was  always  a  hot  loaf  for  breakfast, 
hot  corn  bread  for  dinner,  and  a  hot  loaf  for 
supper.  Every  house  was  famed  for  its 
loaf  bread,  and  said  a  gentleman  once  to 
me:  "Although  at  each  place  it  is  superb, 
yet  each  loaf  differs  from  another  loaf, 
preserving  distinct  characteristics  which 
would  enable  me  to  distinguish,  instantly, 
should  there  be  a  convention  of  loaves,  the 
Oaklands  loaf  from  the  Greenfield  loaf,  and 
the  Avenel  loaf  from  the  Rustic  Lodge 
loaf." 

And  apropos  of  this  gentleman,  who,  it 
is  needless  to  add,  was  a  celebrated  connois- 
seur in  this  matter  of  loaf  bread,  it  was  a 
noticeable  fact  with  our  cook  that  when- 
ever he  came  to  our  house,  the  bread  in  try- 
ing to  do  its  best  always  did  its  worst! 

Speaking  of  bread,  another  gentleman 
expressed  his  belief  that  at  the  last  great 
day  it  will  be  found  that  more  housewives 
will  be  punished  on  account  of  light-bread 
than  anything  else ;  for  he  knew  some  who 
were  never  out  of  temper  except  when  the 
light-bread  failed ! 

Time  would  fail  me  to  dwell,  as  I  should, 
upon   the    incomparable    rice    waffles,    and 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  41 

beat  biscuit,  and  muffins,  and  laplands,  and 
marguerites,  and  flannel  cakes,  and  French 
rolls,  and  velvet  rolls,  and  lady's  fingers 
constantly  brought  by  relays  of  small  serv- 
ants, during  breakfast,  hot  and  hotter  from 
the  kitchen.  Then  the  tea-waiters  handed 
at  night,  with  the  beef  tongue,  the  sliced 
ham,  the  grated  cheese,  the  cold  turkey, 
the  dried  venison,  the  loaf  bread  buttered 
hot,  the  batter-cakes,  the  crackers,  the  quince 
marmalade,  the  wafers, — all  pass  in  review 
before  me. 

The  first  time  I  ever  heard  of  a  manner 
of  living  different  from  this  was  when  it 
became  important  for  my  mother  to  make 
a  visit  to  a  great-aunt  in  Baltimore,  and 
she  went  for  the  first  time  out  of  her  native 
State ;  as  neither  she  nor  her  mother  had 
ever  been  out  of  Virginia.  My  mother  was 
accompanied  by  her  maid,  Kitty,  on  this 
expedition,  and  when  they  returned  both 
had  many  astounding  things  to  relate.  My 
grandmother  threw  up  her  hands  in  amaze- 
ment on  hearing  that  some  of  the  first 
ladies  in  the  city,  who  visited  old  aunt,  con- 
fined the  conversation  of  a  morning  call  to 
the  subject  of  the  faults  of  their  hired  serv- 


42  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

ants.  "  Is  it  possible  ? "  exclaimed  the 
old  lady.  "  I  never  considered  it  well  bred 
to  mention  servants  or  their  faults  in  com- 
pany." 

Indeed,  in  our  part  of  the  world,  a  mis- 
tress became  offended  if  the  faults  of  her 
servants  were  alluded  to,  just  as  persons 
become  displeased  when  the  faults  of  their 
children  are  discussed. 

Maid  Kitty's  account  of  this  visit  I  will 
give,  as  well  as  I  can  remember,  in  her  own 
words,  as  she  described  it  to  her  fellow- 
servants:  "You  nuver  see  sich  a  way  fur 
people  to  live  !  Folks  goes  to  bed  in  Balti- 
more 'thout  a  single  moufful  in  de  house  to 
eat.  An'  dey  can't  get  nothin'  neither 
'thout  dey  gits  up  soon  in  de  mornin'  an' 
goes  to  market  after  it  deyselves.  Rain, 
hail,  or  shine,  dey  got  to  go.  'Twouldn't 
suit  our  white  folks  to  live  dat  way  !  An' 
I  wouldn't  live  dar  not  for  nothin'  in  dis 
worl'.  In  dat  fine  three-story  house  dar 
aint  but  bar'  two  servants,  an'  dey  has  to 
do  all  de  work.  'Twouldn't  suit  me,  an'  I 
wouldn't  live  dar  not  for  nothin'  in  dis 
whole  creation.  I  would  git  dat  lonesome 
I  couldn't  stan' it.     Bar'  two  servants!  an' 


.  * '  . 


"THREE  WOMEN  WOULD  CLEAN   UP  ONE  CHAMBER."— Page  43. 


•BEFORE  THE  WA%  43 

dey  calls  deyselves  rich,  too !  An'  dey 
cooks  in  de  cellar.  I  know  mistess  couldn't 
stan'  dat — smellin'  everyt'ing  out  de  kitchen 
all  over  de  house.  Umph  !  dem  folks  don't 
know  nothin'  'tall  'bout  good  livin',  wid  dar 
cold  bread  an'  dar  rusks  !  " 

Maid  Kitty  spoke  truly  when  she  said 
she  had  never  seen  two  women  do  all  the 
housework.  For  at  home  often  three 
women  would  clean  up  one  chamber.  One 
made  the  bed,  while  another  swept  the 
floor,  and  a  third  dusted  and  put  the  chairs 
straight.  Labor  was  divided  and  subdi- 
vided ;  and  I  remember  one  woman  whose 
sole  employment  seemed  to  be  throwing 
open  the  blinds  in  the  morning  and  rubbing 
the  posts  of  my  grandmother's  high  bed- 
stead. This  rubbing  business  was  carried 
quite  to  excess.  Every  inch  of  mahogany 
was  waxed  and  rubbed  to  the  highest  state 
of  polish,  as  were  also  the  floors,  the  brass 
fenders,  irons,  and  candlesticks. 

When  I  reflect  upon  the  degree  of  com- 
fort arrived  at  in  our  homes,  I  think  we 
should  have  felt  grateful  to  our  ancestors; 
for,  as  Quincy  has  written  :  "  In  whatever 
mode  of  existence  man  finds  himself,  be  it 


44  <A  GVBJJS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

savage  or  civilized,  he  perceives  that  he  is 
indebted  for  the  greater  part  of  his  posses- 
sions to  events  over  which  he  had  no  con- 
trol ;  to  individuals  whose  names,  perhaps, 
never  reached  his  ear;  to  sacrifices  which 
he  never  shared.  How  few  of  all  these 
blessings  do  we  owe  to  our  own  power  or 
prudence !  How  few  on  which  we  cannot 
discern  the  impress  of  a  long  past  genera- 
tion !  "  So  we  were  indebted  for  our  agree- 
able surroundings  to  the  heroism  and  sacri- 
fices of  past  generations,  which  not  to  ven- 
erate and  eulogize  betrays  the  want  of  a 
truly  noble  soul.  For  what  courage,  what 
patience,  what  perseverance,  what  long 
suffering,  what  Christian  forbearance,  must 
it  have  cost  our  great-grandmothers  to 
civilize,  Christianize,  and  elevate  the  naked, 
savage  Africans  to  the  condition  of  good 
cooks  and  respectable  maids  !  They — our 
great-grandmothers — did  not  enjoy  the 
blessed  privilege  even  of  turning  their 
servants  off  when  inefficient  or  disagree- 
able, but  had  to  keep  them  through  life. 
The  only  thing  was  to  bear  and  forbear,  and 

Be  to  their  virtues  very  kind, 
Be  to  their  faults  a  little  blind. 


'BEFORE  THE  WAT{.  45 

If  in  heaven  there  be  one  seat  higher  than 
another,  it  must  be  reserved  for  those  true 
Southern  matrons,  who  performed  conscien- 
tiously their  part  assigned  them  by  God — 
civilizing  and  instructing  this  race. 

I  have  searched  missionary  records  of  all 
ages,  but  find  no  results  in  Africa  or  else- 
where at  all  comparing  with  the  grand  work 
accomplished  for  the  African  race  in  our 
Southern  homes. 

Closing  the  last  chapter  of  "  Explorations 
in  the  Dark  Continent,"  the  thought  came 
to  me  that  it  would  be  well  if  our  African 
friends  in  America  would  set  apart  another 
anniversary  to  celebrate  "  the  landing  of 
their  fathers  on  the  shores  of  America," 
when  they  were  bought  and  domiciled  in 
American  homes.  This  must  have  been 
God's  own  plan  for  helping  them,  although 
a  severe  ordeal  for  our  ancestors. 

In  God's  own  time  and  way  the  shackles 
have  been  removed  from  this  people,  who 
are  now  sufficiently  civilized  to  take  an  inde- 
pendent position  in  the  great  family  of  man. 

However  we  may  differ  in  the  opinion, 
there  is  no  greater  compliment  to  Southern 
slave-owners    than    the    idea  prevailing   in 


46  <A  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

many  places  that  the  negro  is  already  suffi- 
ciently elevated  to  hold  the  highest  positions 
in  the  gift  of  our  government. 

I  once  met  in  traveling  an  English  gentle- 
man who  asked  me  :  "  How  can  you  bear 
those  miserable  black  negroes  about  your 
houses  and  about  your  persons  ?  To  me 
they  are  horribly  repulsive,  and  I  would  not 
endure  one  about  me." 

"  Neither  would  they  have  been  my 
choice,"  I  replied.  "  But  God  sent  them  to 
us.  I  was  born  to  this  inheritance  and  could 
not  avert  it.  What  would  you  English  have 
done,"  I  asked,  "  if  God  had  sent  them  to 
you  ?" 

"  Thrown  them  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea !  " 
he  replied. 

Fortunately  for  the  poor  negro  this  senti- 
ment did  not  prevail  among  us.  I  believe 
God  endowed  our  people  with  qualities 
peculiarly  adapted  to  taking  charge  of  this 
race,  and  that  no  other  nation  could  have 
kept  them.  Our  people  did  not  demand  as 
much  work  as  in  other  countries  is  required 
of  servants,  and  I  think  had  more  affection 
for  them  than  is  elsewhere  felt  for  menials. 

In  this   connection  I  remember   an   inci- 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%.  47 

dent  during  the  war  which  deserves  to  be 
recorded  as  showing  the  affection  entertained 
for  negro  dependents. 

When  our  soldiers  were  nearly  starved, 
and  only  allowed  daily  a  small  handful  of 
parched  corn,  the  colonel  of  a  Virginia  regi- 
ment* by  accident  got  some  coffee,  a  small 
portion  of  which  was  daily  distributed  to 
each  soldier.  In  the  regiment  was  a  cousin 
of  mine, — a  young  man  endowed  with  the 
noblest  attributes  God  can  give, — who,  al- 
though famishing  and  needing  it,  denied 
himself  his  portion  every  day  that  he  might 
bring  it  to  his  black  mammy.  He  made  a 
small  bag  in  which  he  deposited  and  care- 
fully saved  it. 

When  he  arrived  at  home  on  furlough,  his 
mother  wept  to  see  his  tattered  clothes, 
his  shoeless  feet,  and  his  starved  appear- 
ance. 

Soon  producing  the  little  bag  of  coffee, 
with  a  cheerful  smile,  he  said :  "  See  what 
I've  saved  to  bring  black  mammy  !  " 

"Oh!  my  son,"  said  his  mother,  "you 
have  needed  it  yourself.  Why  did  you  not 
use  it  ?  " 

*  Robert  Logan,  of  Roanoke,  Va. 


48  <A  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

"  Well,"  he  replied,  "  it  has  been  so  long 
since  you  all  had  any  coffee,  and  I  made  out 
very  well  on  water,  when  I  thought  how 
black  mammy  missed  her  coffee,  and  how 
glad  she  would  be  to  get  ito" 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%  49 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  antiquity  of  the  furniture  in  our 
homes  can  scarcely  be  described,  every 
article  appearing  to  have  been  purchased 
during  the  reign  of  George  III.,  since  which 
period  no  new  fixtures  or  household  utensils 
seemed  to  have  been  bought. 

The  books  in  our  libraries  had  been 
brought  from  England  almost  two  hundred 
years  before.  In  our  own  library  there  were 
Hogarth's  pictures,  in  old  worm-eaten 
frames ;  and  among  the  literary  curiosities, 
one  of  the  earliest  editions  of  Shakespeare 
(1685)  containing  under  the  author's  picture 
the  lines  by  Ben  Jonson  : 

"  This  Figure,  that  thou  here  seest  put, 
It  was  for  gentle  Shakespeare  cut  ; 
Wherein  the  Graver  had  a  strife 
With  Nature  to  outdo  the  Life  : 
O,  could  he  but  have  drawn  his  Wit 
As  well  in  Brass,  as  he  has  hit 
His  Face  ;  the  Print  would  then  surpass 
All  that  was  ever  writ  in  Brass. 
But  since  he  cannot,  Reader,  look 
Not  on  his  Picture,  but  his  Book, " 


5°  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

This  was  a  reprint  of  the  first  edition  of 
Shakespeare's  works,  collected  by  John 
Heminge  and  Henry  Condell,  two  of  his 
friends  in  the  company  of  comedians. 

When  a  small  child,  the  perusal  of  the 
"Arabian  Nights"  possessed  me  with  the  idea 
that  their  dazzling  pictures  were  to  be  real- 
ized when  we  emerged  from  plantation  life 
into  the  outside  world,  and  the  disappoint- 
ment at  not  finding  Richmond  paved  with 
gems  and  gold  like  those  cities  in  Eastern 
story  is  remembered  to  the  present  time. 

Brought  up  amid  antiquities,  the  Virginia 
girl  disturbed  herself  not  about  modern 
fashions,  appearing  happy  in  her  mother's  old 
silks  and  satins  made  over.  She  rejoiced  in 
her  grandmother's  laces  and  in  her  brooch 
of  untold  dimensions,  with  a  weeping  willow 
and  tombstone  on  it, — a  constant  reminder 
of  the  past, —  which  had  descended  from 
some  remote  ancestor. 

She  slept  in  a  high  bedstead — the  bed 
of  her  ancestors ;  washed  her  face  on  an 
old-fashioned,  spindle-legged  washstand ; 
mounted  a  high  chair  to  arrange  her  hair 
before  the  old-fashioned  mirror  on  the  high 
bureau  ;  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  high  mantel- 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  51 

piece  to  take  down  the  old-fashioned  high 
candlesticks  ;  climbed  a  pair  of  steps  to  get 
into  the  high-swung,  old-fashioned  carriage  ; 
perched  her  feet  upon  the  top  of  a  high 
brass  fender  if  she  wanted  to  get  them  warm  ; 
and,  in  short,  had  to  perform  so  many  gym- 
nastics that  she  felt  convinced  her  ancestors 
must  have  been  a  race  of  giants,  or  they 
could  not  have  required  such  tall  and  inac- 
cessible furniture. 

An  occasional  visit  to  Richmond  or 
Petersburg  sometimes  animated  her  with 
a  desire  for  some  style  of  dress  less  antique 
than  her  own,  although  she  had  as  much 
admiration  and  attention  as  if  she  had  just 
received  her  wardrobe  from  Paris. 

Her  social  outlook  might  have  been 
regarded  as  limited  and  circumscribed,  her 
parents  being  unwilling  that  her  acquaint- 
ance should  extend  beyond  the  descendants 
of  their  own  old  friends. 

She  had  never  any  occasion  to  make  what 
the  world  calls  her  "debut"  the  constant 
flow  of  company  at  her  father's  house  hav- 
ing rendered  her  assistance  necessary  in 
entertaining  guests  as  soon  as  she  could 
converse    and   be   companionable,    so    that 


52  <A  Gl%VS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

her  manners  were  early  formed,  and  she 
remembered  not  the  time  when  it  was  any- 
thing but  very  easy  and  agreeable  to  be 
in  the  society  of  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

In  due  time  we  were  provided — my  sister 
and  myself — with  the  best  instructors— a 
lady  all  the  way  from  Bordeaux  to  teach 
French,  and  a  German  professor  for  German 
and  music.  The  latter  opened  to  us  a  new 
world  of  music.  He  was  a  fine  linguist,  a 
thorough  musician,  and  a  gentleman.  He 
lived  with  us  for  five  years,  and  remained  our 
sincere  and  truly  valued  friend  through 
life. 

After  some  years  we  were  thought  to 
have  arrived  at  "  sufficient  age  of  dis- 
cretion" for  a  trip  to  New  York  City. 

Fancy  our  feelings  on  arriving  in  that 
world  of  modern  people  and  modern  things ! 
Fancy  two  young  girls  suddenly  transported 
from  the  time  of  George  III.  to  the  largest 
hotel  on  Broadway  in  1855  ! 

All  was  as  strange  to  us  then  as  we  are 
now  to  the  Chinese.  Never  had  we  seen 
white  servants  before,  and  on  being 
attended  by  them  at  first  we  felt  a  sort  of 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%.  53 

embarrassment,  but  soon  found  they  were 
accustomed  to  less  consideration  and  more 
hard  work  than  were  our  negro  servants  at 
home. 

Everything  and  everybody  seemed  in  a 
mad  whirl — the  "  march  of  material  prog- 
ress," they  told  us.  It  seemed  to  us  more 
the  "  perpetual  motion  of  progress."  Every- 
body said  that  if  old-fogy  Virginia  did  not 
make  haste  to  join  this  march,  she  would 
be  left  "  a  wreck  behind," 

We  found  ourselves  in  the  "  advanced 
age  ":  in  the  land  of  water-pipes  and  dumb- 
waiters ;  the  land  of  enterprise  and  money, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  of  an  economy 
amounting  to  parsimony. 

The  manners  of  the  people  were  strange 
to  ul,  and  different  from  ours.  The  ladies 
seemed  to  have  gone  ahead  of  the  men 
in  the  "  march  of  progress,"  their  manner 
being  more  pronounced.  They  did  not 
hesitate  to  push  about  through  crowds  and 
public  places. 

Still  we  were  young ;  and,  dazzled  with 
the  gloss  and  glitter,  we  wondered  why  old 
Virginia  couldn't  join  this  march  of  prog- 
ress, and  have  dumb-waiters,  and  elevators, 


54  <A  Gl%US  LIFE  IN  VI%GINIA 

and  water-pipes,  and  gas-fixtures,  and  baby- 
jumpers,  and  washing-machines. 

We  asked  a  gentleman  who  was  with  us 
why  old  Virginia  had  not  all  these,  and  he 
replied :  "  Because,  while  the  people  here 
have  been  busy  working  for  themselves,  old- 
fogy  Virginia  has  been  working  for  negroes. 
All  the  money  Virginia  makes  is  spent  in 
feeding  and  clothing  negroes.  "  And,"  he 
continued,  "  these  people  in  the  North  were 
shrewd  enough  years  ago  to  sell  all  theirs 
to  the  South." 

All  was  strange  to  us, — even  the  table- 
cloths on  the  tea  and  breakfast  tables, 
instead  of  napkins  under  the  plates,  such  as 
we  had  at  home,  and  which  always  looked 
so  pretty  on  the  mahogany. 

But  the  novelty  having  worn  off  after  a 
while,  we  found  out  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  imitation,  after  all,  mixed  up  in  every- 
thing. Things  did  not  seem  to  have  been 
"  fixed  up  "  to  last  as  long  as  our  old  things 
at  home,  and  we  began  to  wonder  if  the  "  ad- 
vanced age "  really  made  the  people  any 
better,  or  more  agreeable,  or  more  hospit- 
able, or  more  generous,  or  more  brave,  or 
more    self-reliant,    or    more    charitable,    or 


rBEFO%E  THE  WA%  55 

more  true,  or  more  pious,  than  in  "  old-fogy 
Virginia." 

There  was  one  thing  most  curious  to  us 
in  New  York.  No  one  seemed  to  do  any- 
thing by  himself  or  herself.  No  one  had 
an  individuality ;  all  existed  in  "  clubs "  or 
"societies."  They  had  many  "isms"  also, 
of  which  we  had  never  heard,  some  of  the 
people  sitting  up  all  night  and  going 
around  all  day  talking  about  "  manifesta- 
tions," and  "spirits,"  and  "affinities,"  which 
they  told  us  was  "  spiritualism." 

All  this  impressed  us  slow,  old-fashioned 
Virginians  as  a  strangely  upside-down, 
wrong-side-out  condition  of  things. 

Much  of  the  conversation  we  heard  was 
confined  to  asking  questions  of  strangers, 
and  discussing  the  best  means  of  making 
money. 

We  were  surprised,  too,  to  hear  of  "  plan- 
tation customs,"  said  to  exist  among  us, 
which  were  entirely  new  to  us ;  and  one 
of  the  magazines  published  in  the  city 
informed  us  that  "dipping"  was  one  of  the 
characteristics  of  Southern  women.  What 
could  the  word  "  clipping  "  mean  ?  we  won- 
dered, for  we  had    never   heard    it   before. 


56  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

Upon  inquiry  we  found  that  it  meant 
"  rubbing  the  teeth  with  snuff  on  a  small 
stick  " — a  truly  disgusting  habit  which  could 
not  have  prevailed  in  Virginia,  or  we  would 
have  had  some  tradition  of  it  at  least,  our 
acquaintance  extending  over  the  State,  and 
our  ancestors  having  settled  there  two  hun- 
dred years  ago. 

A  young  gentleman  from  Virginia, 
bright  and  overflowing  with  fun, — also  visit- 
ing New  York, — coming  into  the  parlor  one 
day,  threw  himself  on  a  sofa  in  a  violent  fit 
of  laughter. 

"  What  is  the  matter?  "  we  asked. 

"  I  am  laughing,"  he  replied,  "  at  the 
absurd  questions  these  people  can  ask. 
What  do  you  think?  A  man  asked  me 
just  now  if  we  didn't  keep  bloodhounds  in 
Virginia  to  chase  negroes!  I  told  him:  Oh, 
yes,  every  plantation  keeps  several  dozen  ! 
And  we  often  have  a  tender  boiled  negro 
infant  for  breakfastj  " 

"  Oh,  how  could  you  have  told  such  a 
story?  "  we  said. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  you  know  we  never 
saw  a  bloodhound  in  Virginia,  and  I  do  not 
expect  there  is  one  in  the  State ;  but  these 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  57 

people  delight  in  believing  everything  horri- 
ble about  us,  and  I  thought  I  might  as  well 
gratify  them  with  something  marvelous. 
So  the  next  book  published  up  here  will 
have,  I've  no  doubt,  a  chapter  headed : 
'  Bloodhounds  in  Virginia  and  boiled 
negroes    for   breakfast ! '"  f 

While  we  were  purchasing  some  trifles  to 
bring  home  to  some  of  our  servants,  a  lady 
who  had  entertained  us  most  kindly  at  her 
house  on  Fifth  Avenue,  expressing  surprise, 
said  :  "  We  never  think  of  bringing  home 
presents  to  our  help." 

This  was  the  first  time  we  had  ever  heard, 
instead  of  "  servant,"  the  word  "  help,"  which 
seemed  then,  and  still  seems,  misapplied. 
The  dictionaries  define  "  help "  to  mean 
aid,  assistance,  remedy,  while  "  servant " 
means  one  who  attends  another  and  acts  at 
his  command.  When  a  man  pays  another 
to  "  help  "  him,  it  implies  he  is  to  do  part  of 
the  work  himself,  and  is  dishonest  if  he 
leaves  the  whole  to  be  performed  by  his 
"help." 

Among  other  discoveries  during  this  visit 
we  found  how  much  more  talent  it  requires 
to  entertain  company  in  the  country  than  in 


58  <A  GITiL'S  LIFE  IN  VVRfiWIA 

the  city.  In  the  latter  the  guests  and  family- 
form  no  "  social  circle  round  the  blazing 
hearth  "  at  night,  but  disperse  far  and  wide, 
to  be  entertained  at  the  concert,  the  opera, 
the  theatre,  or  club  ;  while  in  the  country 
one  depends  entirely  upon  native  intellect 
and  conversational  talent. 

And,  oh !  the  memory  of  our  own  fireside 
circles !  The  exquisite  women,  the  men  of 
giant  intellect,  eloquence,  and  wit,  at  sundry 
times  assembled  there  !  Could  our  andirons 
but  utter  speech,  what  would  they  not  tell  of 
mirth  and  song,  eloquence  and  wit,  whose 
flow  made  many  an  evening  bright ! 

As  all  delights  must  have  an  end,  the  time 
came  for  us  to  leave  these  metropolitan 
scenes,  and,  bidding  adieu  forever  to  the 
land  of  "  modern  appliances "  and  stale 
bread,  we  returned  to  the  land  of  "  old  ham 
and  corn  cakes,"  and  were  soon  surrounded 
by  friends  who  came  to  hear  the  marvels  we 
had  to  relate. 

How  monotonous,  how  dull,  prosy,  incon- 
venient, everything  seemed  after  our  plunge 
into  modern  life  ! 

We  told  old  Virginia  about  all  the  enter- 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  59 

prise  we  had  seen,  and  how  she  was  left  far 
behind  everybody  and  everything,  urging 
her  to  join  at  once  the  "  march  of  material 
progress." 

But  the  Mother  of  States  persisted  in 
sitting  contentedly  over  her  old-fashioned 
wood  fire  with  brass  andirons,  and,  while 
thus  musing,  these  words  fell  slowly  and  dis- 
tinctly from  her  lips: 

"  They  call  me  '  old  fogy,'  and  tell  me  I 
must  get  out  of  my  old  ruts  and  come  into 
the  '  advanced  age.'  But  I  don't  care  about 
their  '  advanced  age,'  their  water-pipes  and 
elevators.  Give  me  the  right  sort  of  men 
and  women — God-loving,  God-serving  men 
and  women.  Men  brave,  courteous,  true  ; 
women  sensible,  gentle,  and  retiring. 

"  Have  not  my  plantation  homes  fur- 
nished warriors,  statesmen,  and  orators, 
acknowledged  great  by  the  world  ?  I  make 
it  a  rule  to  'keep  on  hand'  men  equal  to 
emergencies.  Had  I  not  Washington,  Pat- 
rick Henry,  Light-Horse  Harry  Lee,  and 
others,  ready  for  the  first  Revolution?  and 
if  there  comes  another, — which  God  for- 
bid!—have  I  not  plenty  more  just  like 
them  ?  " 


60  ^  CI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

Here  she  laughed  with  delight  as  she 
called  over  their  names :  "  Robert  Lee, 
Jackson,  Joe  Johnstone,  Stuart,  Early, 
Floyd,  Preston,  the  Breckinridges,  Scott, 
and  others  like  them,  brave  and  true  as  steel. 
Ha !  ha !  I  know  of  what  stuff  to  make 
men  !  And  if  my  old  '  ruts  and  grooves ' 
produce  men  like  these,  should  they  be 
abandoned  ?  Can  any  '  advanced  age  '  pro- 
duce better? 

"Then  there  are  my  soldiers  of  the  Cross. 
Do  I  not  yearly  send  out  a  faithful  band 
to  be  a  '  shining  light,'  and  spread  the 
Gospel  North,  South,  East,  West,  even 
into  foreign  lands  ?  Is  not  the  only  Chris- 
tian paper  in  Athens,  Greece,  the  result 
of  the  love  and  labor  of  one  of  my  sol- 
diers?* 

"  And  can  I  not  send  out  men  of  science, 
as  well  as  warriors,  statesmen,  and  orators  ? 
There  is  Maury  on  the  seas,  showing  the 
world  what  a  man  of  science  can  do.  If  my 
'  old-fogy  '  system  has  produced  men  like 
these,  must  it  be  abandoned  ?  " 

Here  the  old  Mother  of  States  settled  her- 
self back  in  her  chair,  a  smile  of  satisfaction 

*  Rev.  G.  W.  Leyburn. 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%.  61 

resting  on  her  face,  and  she  ceased  to  think 
of  change. 

Telling  our  mother  of  all  the  wonders  and 
pleasures  of  New  York,  she  said  : 

"  You  were  so  delighted  I  judge  that  you 
would  like  to  sell  out  everything  here  and 
move  there! " 

"  It  would  be  delightful !  "  we  exclaimed. 

"  But  you  would  miss  many  pleasures  you 
have  in  our  present  home." 

"  We  would  have  no  time  to  miss  any- 
thing," said  my  sister,  "  in  that  whirl  of  ex- 
citement !  But,"  she  continued,  "  I  be- 
lieve one  might  as  well  try  to  move  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  Fifth  Avenue  as  an 
old  Virginian  !  They  have  such  a  horror 
of  selling  out  and  moving." 

"  It  is  not  so  easy  to  sell  out  and  move," 
replied  our  mother,  "when  you  remember  all 
the  negroes  we  have  to  take  care  of  and 
support." 

"  Yes,  the  negroes,"  we  said,  "  are  the 
weight  continually  pulling  us  down !  Will 
the  time  ever  come  for  us  to  be  free  of 
them  ?  " 

"  They   were   placed    here,"    replied    our 


62  ji  Gl%US  LIFE  IN  VIT^GINU 

mother,  "  by  God,  for  us  to  take  care  of,  and 
it  does  not  seem  that  we  can  change  it. 
When  we  emancipate  them,  it  does  not  bet- 
ter their  condition.  Those  left  free  and 
with  good  farms  given  them  by  their  mas- 
ters soon  sink  into  poverty  and  wretched- 
ness, and  become  a  nuisance  to  the  com- 
munity. We  see  how  miserable  are  Mr. 
Randolph's*  negroes,  who  with  their  free- 
dom received  from  their  master  a  large  sec- 
tion of  the  best  land  in  Prince  Edward 
County.  My  own  grandfather  also  emanci- 
pated a  large  number,  having  first  had  them 
taught  lucrative  trades  that  they  might  sup- 
port themselves,  and  giving  them  money 
and  land.  But  they  were  not  prosperous  or 
happy.  We  have  also  tried  sending  them 
to  Liberia.  You  know  my  old  friend  Mrs. 
L.  emancipated  all  hers  and  sent  them  to 
Liberia  ;  but  she  told  me  the  other  day  that 
she  was  convinced  it  had  been  no  kindness 
to  them,  for  she  continually  receives  letters 
begging  assistance,  and  yearly  supplies  them 
with  clothes  and  money." 

So   it   seemed  our   Avay  was    surrounded 
by   walls   of    circumstances   too    thick   and 

*John  Randolph  of  Roanoke. 


rBEFO\E  THE  WAT{.  63 

solid  to  be  pulled  down,  and  we  said  no 
more. 

Some  weeks  after  this  conversation  we 
had  a  visit  from  a  friend— Dr.  Bagby 
— who,  having  lived  in  New  York,  and 
hearing  us  express  a  wish  to  live  there, 
said  : 

"  What !  exchange  a  home  in  old  Vir- 
ginia for  one  on  Fifth  Avenue  ?  You  don't 
know  what  you  are  talking  about !  It  is 
not  even  called  '  home '  there,  but  '  house,' 
where  they  turn  into  bed  at  midnight,  eat 
stale-bread  breakfasts,  have  brilliant  parties 
— where  several  hundred  people  meet  who 
don't  care  anything  about  each  other.  They 
have  no  soul  life,  but  shut  themselves  up  in 
themselves,  live  for  themselves,  and  never 
have  any  social  enjoyment  like  ours." 

"  But,"  we  said,  "  could  not  our  friends 
come  to  see  us  there  as  well  as  anywhere 
else  ?  " 

"  No,  indeed  !  "  he  answered.  "  Your 
hearts  would  soon  be  as  cold  and  dead  as  a 
marble  door-front.  You  wouldn't  want  to 
see  anybody,  and  nobody  would  want  to  see 
you." 

"You  are  complimentary,  certainly  !  " 


64  tA  GlTiL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

"  I  know  all  about  it  ;  and  " — he  contin- 
ued— "  I  know  you  could  not  find  on  Fifth 
Avenue  such  women  as  your  mother  and 
grandmother,  who  never  think  of  themselves, 
but  are  constantly  planning  and  providing 
for  others,  making  their  homes  comfortable 
and  pleasant,  and  attending  to  the  wants 
and  welfare  of  so  many  negroes.  And  that 
is  what  the  women  all  over  the  South  are 
doing,  and  what  the  New  York  women  can- 
not comprehend.  How  can  anybody  know, 
except  ourselves,  the  personal  sacrifices  of 
our  women?  " 

"  Well,"  said  my  sister,  "  you  need  not  be 
so  severe  and  eloquent  because  we  thought 
we  should  like  to  live  in  New  York  !  If  we 
should  sell  all  we  possess,  we  could  never 
afford  to  live  there.  Besides,  you  know  our 
mother  would  as  soon  think  of  selling  her 
children  as  her  servants." 

"  But,"  he  replied,  "  I  can't  help  talking, 
for  I  hear  our  people  abused,  and  called  in- 
dolent and  self-indulgent,  when  I  know  they 
have  valor  and  endurance  enough.  And  I 
believe  so  much  '  material  progress  '  leaves 
no  leisure  for  the  highest  development  of 
heart  and  mind.     Where  the  whole  energy 


TEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  65 

of  a  people  is  applied  to  making  money,  the 
souls  of  men  become  dwarfed." 

"  We  do  not  feel,"  we  said,  "  like  abusing 
Northern  people,  in  whose  thrift  and  enter- 
prise we  found  much  to  admire  ;  and  espe- 
cially the  self-reliance  of  their  women,  ena- 
bling them  to  take  care  of  themselves  and 
to  travel  from  Maine  to  the  Gulf  without 
escort,  while  we  find  it  impossible  to  travel 
a  day's  journey  without  a  special  protector." 

"That  is  just  what  I  don't  like,"  said  he, 
"  to  see  a  woman  in  a  crowd  of  strangers 
and  needing  no  '  special  protector.'  " 

"  This  dependence  upon  your  sex,"  we  re- 
plied, "  keeps  you  so  vain." 

"  We  should  lose  our  gallantry  altogether," 
said  he,  "  if  we  found  you  could  get  along 
without  us." 


66  <A  GIUJJS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER  VII. 

After  some  months — ceasing  to  think 
and  speak  of  New  York — our  lives  glided  back 
into  the  old  channel,  where  the  placid  stream 
of  life  had  many  isles  of  simple  pleasures. 

In  those  days  we  were  not  whirled  over 
the  iron  track  in  a  crowded  car,  with  dirty, 
shrieking  children  and  repulsive-looking 
people.  We  were  not  jammed  against 
rough  people,  eating  ill-smelling  things  out 
of  ill-looking  baskets  and  satchels,  and 
throwing  the  remains  of  pies  and  sausages 
over  the  cushioned  seats. 

Oh,  no !  our  journeys  were  performed  in 
venerable  carriages,  and  our  lunch  was  en- 
joyed by  some  cool,  shady  spring  where  we 
stopped  in  a  shady  forest  at  mid-day. 

Our  own  ancient  carriage  my  sister  styled 
"  the  old  ship  of  Zion,"  saying  it  had  carried 
many  thousands,  and  was  likely  to  carry 
many  more.  And  our  driver  we  called  the 
"  Ancient  Mariner."      He  presided    on   his 


"LUNCH  BY  SOME  COOL,  SHADY  SPRING."— Page  66. 


'BEFORE  THE   WA%  67 

seat — a  lofty  perch — in  a  very  high  hat  and 
with  great  dignity.  Having  been  driving 
the  same  carriage  for  nearly  forty  years — no 
driver  being  thought  safe  who  had  not  been 
on  the  carriage  box  at  least  twenty  years, — 
he  regarded  himself  as  an  oracle,  and,  in  con- 
sequence of  his  years  and  experience,  kept 
us  in  much  awe, — my  sister  and  myself 
never  daring  to  ask  him  to  quicken  or  retard 
his  pace  or  change  the  direction  of  his 
course,  however  much  we  desired  it.  We 
will  ever  remember  this  thraldom,  and  how 
we  often  wished  one  of  the  younger  negroes 
could  be  allowed  to  take  his  place ;  but  my 
grandmother  said  "  it  would  wound  his 
feelings,  and,  besides,  be  very  unsafe  "  for 
us. 

At  every  steep  hill  or  bad  place  in  the 
road  it  was  an  established  custom  to  stop 
the  carriage,  unfold  the  high  steps,  and  "  let 
us  out," — as  in  pictures  of  the  animals  com- 
ing down  out  of  the  ark  !  This  custom  had 
always  prevailed  in  my  mother's  family,  and 
there  was  a  tradition  that  my  great-grand- 
father's horses,  being  habituated  to  stop  for 
this  purpose,  refused  to  pull  up  certain  hills, 
even   when  the    carriage  was   empty,  until 


68  ji  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

the  driver  had  dismounted  and  slammed  the 
door,  after  which  they  moved  off  without 
further  hesitation. 

This  custom  of  walking  at  intervals  made 
a  pleasant  variety,  and  gave  us  an  oppor- 
tunity to  enjoy  fully  the  beautiful  and 
picturesque  scenery  through  which  we  were 
passing. 

Those  were  the  days  of  leisure  and  plea- 
sure for  travelers ;  and  when  we  remember 
the  charming  summer  jaunts  annually  made 
in  this  way,  we  almost  regret  the  steam 
horse,  which  takes  us  now  to  the  same 
places  in  a  few  hours. 

We  had  two  dear  friends,  Mary  and 
Alice,  who  with  their  old  carriages  and 
drivers — the  facsimiles  of  our  own — fre- 
quently accompanied  us  in  these  expedi- 
tions ;  and  no  generals  ever  exercised  more 
entire  command  over  their  armies  than  did 
these  three  black  coachmen  over  us.  I 
smile  now  to  think  of  their  ever  being  called 
our  "  slaves." 

Yet,  although  they  had  this  domineering 
spirit,  they  felt  at  the  same  time  a  certain 
pride  in  us,  too. 

On  one  occasion,  when  we  were  traveling 


VEFOTiE  THE  IV A%  69 

together,  our  friend  Alice  concluded  to  dis- 
mount from  her  carriage  and  ride  a  few 
miles  with  a  gentleman  of  the  party  in  a 
buggy.  She  had  not  gone  far  before  the 
alarm  was  given  that  the  buggy  horse  was 
running  away,  whereupon  our  black  general- 
issimos instantly  stopped  the  three  carriages 
and  anxiously  watched  the  result.  Old 
Uncle  Edmund,  Alice's  coachman,  stood 
up  in  his  seat  highly  excited,  and  when  his 
young  mistress,  with  admirable  presence  of 
mind,  seized  the  reins  and  stopped  the  horse, 
turning  him  into  a  by-road,  he  shouted  at 
the  top  of  his  voice:  "  Dar,  now!  I  always 
knowed  Miss  Alice  was  a  young  'oman  of  de 
mos'  amiable  courage  !  " — and  over  this  feat 
he  continued  to  chuckle  for  the  rest  of  the 
day. 

The  end  of  these  pleasant  journeys  always 
brought  us  to  some  old  plantation  home, 
where  we  met  a  warm  welcome  not  only 
from  the  white  family,  but  from  the  servants 
who  constituted  part  of  the  establishment. 

One  of  the  most  charming  places  to  which 
we  made  a  yearly  visit  was  Oaklands,  a  lovely 
spot  embowered  in  vines  and  shade-trees. 

The  attractions  of  this  home  and  family 


7°  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

brought  so  many  visitors  every  summer,  it 
was  necessary  to  erect  cottages  about  the 
grounds,  although  the  house  itself  was  quite 
large.  And  as  the  yard  was  usually  filled 
with  persons  strolling  about,  or  reading,  or 
playing  chess  under  the  trees,  it  had  every 
appearance,  on  first  approach,  of  a  small 
watering-place.  The  mistress  of  this  es- 
tablishment was  a  woman  of  rare  attrac- 
tion, possessing  all  the  gentleness  of  her 
sex,  with  attributes  of  greatness  enough  for 
a  hero.  Tall  and  handsome,  she  looked  a 
queen  as  she  stood  on  the  portico  receiving 
her  guests,  and,  by  the  first  words  of  greet- 
ing, from  her  warm,  true  heart,  charmed 
even  strangers. 

Without  the  least  "  variableness  or 
shadow  of  turning,"  her  excellences  were 
a  perfect  continuity,  and  her  deeds  of 
charity  a  blessing  to  all  in  need  within  her 
reach.  No  undertaking  seemed  too  great 
for  her,  and  no  details — affecting  the  com- 
fort of  her  home,  family,  friends,  or  servants 
— too  small  for  her  supervision. 

The  church,  a  few  miles  distant,  the 
object  of  her  care  and  love,  received  at  her 
hands   constant   and    valuable    aid,    and   its 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  71 

minister  generally  formed  one  of  her  family 
circle. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  the  home  of  such 
a  woman  should  have  been  a  favorite  resort 
for  all  who  had  the  privilege  of  knowing 
her.  And  no  wonder  that  all  who  enjoyed 
her  charming  hospitality  were  spellbound, 
and  loath  to  leave  the  spot  where  it  was 
extended. 

In  addition  to  the  qualities  I  have  at- 
tempted to  describe,  this  lady  inherited  from 
her  father,  General  Breckinridge,  an  exec- 
utive talent  which  enabled  her  to  order  and 
arrange  her  domestic  affairs  perfectly ;  so 
that  from  the  delicious  viands  upon  her 
table  to  the  highly  polished  oak  of  the 
floors,  all  gave  evidence  of  her  superior 
management  and  the  admirable  training  of 
her  servants. 

Nor  were  the  hospitalities  of  this  establish- 
ment dispensed  to  the  gay  and  great  alone  : 
they  were  shared  alike  by  the  homeless  and 
the  friendless,  and  many  a  weary  heart 
found   sympathy   and    shelter   there. 

Oaklands  was  famous  for  many  things  : 
its  fine  light-bread,  its  cinnamon  cakes,  its 
beat  biscuit,  its  fricasseed  chicken,  its  butter 


72  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

and  cream,  its  wine-sauces,  its  plum-pud- 
dings, its  fine  horses,  its  beautiful  meadows, 
its  sloping  green  hills,  and  last,  but  not  least, 
its  refined  and  agreeable  society  collected 
from  every  part  of  our  own  State,  and  often 
from  others. 

For  an  epicure  no  better  place  could  have 
been  desired.  And  this  reminds  me  of  a 
retired  army  officer,  a  gourmet  of  the  first 
water,  whom  we  often  met  there.  His  sole 
occupation  was  visiting  his  friends,  and  his 
only  subjects  of  conversation  were  the  best 
viands  and  the  best  manner  of  cooking 
them !  When  asked  whether  he  remem- 
bered certain  people  at  a  certain  place,  he 
would  reply:  "  Yes,  I  dined  there  ten  years 
ago,  and  the  turkey  was  very  badly  cooked — 
not  quite  done  enough  !  "  the  turkey  evi- 
dently having  made  a  more  lasting  impres- 
sion than  the  people. 

This  gentleman  lost  an  eye  at  the  battle 
of  Chapultepec,  having  been  among  the  first 
of  our  gallant  men  who  scaled  the  walls. 
But  a  young  girl  of  his  acquaintance  always 
said  she  knew  it  was  not  bravery  so  much  as 
"  curiosity,  which  led  him  to  go  peeping  ovei 
the  walls,  first  man  !  "     This  was  a  heartless 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  73 

speech,  but  everybody  repeated  it  and 
laughed,  for  the  colonel  was  a  man  of  con- 
siderable "  curiosity." 

Like  all  old  homes,  Oaklands  had  its 
bright  as  well  as  its  sorrowful  days,  its 
weddings  and  its  funerals.  Many  yet  re- 
member the  gay  wedding  of  one  there  whose 
charms  brought  suitors  by  the  score  and 
won  hearts  by  the  dozen.  The  brilliant 
career  of  this  young  lady,  her  conquests  and 
wonderful  fascinations,  behold !  are  they 
not  all  written  upon  the  hearts  and  mem- 
ories of  divers  rejected  suitors  who  still 
survive  ? 

And,  apropos  of  weddings,  an  old-fash- 
ioned Virginia  wedding  was  an  event  to 
be  remembered.  The  preparations  usually 
commenced  some  time  before,  with  sav- 
ing eggs,  butter,  chickens,  etc.;  after  which 
ensued  the  liveliest  egg-beating,  butter- 
creaming,  raisin-stoning,  sugar-pounding, 
cake-icing,  salad-chopping,  cocoanut-grating, 
lemon-squeezing,  egg-frothing,  wafer-mak- 
ing, pastry-baking,  jelly-straining,  paper-cut- 
ting, silver-cleaning,  floor-rubbing,  dress- 
making, hair-curling,  lace-washing,  ruffle- 
crimping,     tarlatan-smoothing,      trunk-mov- 


74  *A  GVBJJS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

ing, — guests  arriving,  servants  running,  girls 
laughing ! 

Imagine  all  this  going  on  simultaneously 
for  several  successive  days  and  nights,  and 
you  have  an  idea  of  "  preparations  "  for  an 
old-fashioned  Virginia  wedding. 

The  guests  generally  arrived  in  private 
carriages  a  day  or  two  before,  and  stayed 
often  for  a  week  after  the  affair,  being  accom- 
panied by  quite  an  army  of  negro  servants, 
who  enjoyed  the  festivities  as  much  as  their 
masters  and  mistresses. 

A  great  many  years  ago,  after  such  a 
wedding  as  I  describe,  a  dark  shadow  fell 
upon  Oaklands. 

The  eldest  daughter,  young  and  beauti- 
ful, soon  to  marry  a  gentleman*  of  high 
character,  charming  manners,  and  large  es- 
tate, one  night,  while  the  preparations  were 
in  progress  for  her  nuptials,  saw  in  a  vision 
vivid  pictures  of  what  would  befall  her  if 
she  married.  The  vision  showed  her:  a  gay 
wedding,  herself  the  bride ;  the  marriage 
jaunt  to  her  husband's  home  in  a  distant 
county;  the  incidents  of  the  journey;  her 
arrival  at  her  new  home  ;  her  sickness  and 

*  Colonel  Tom  Preston. 


"BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  75 

death ;  the  funeral  procession  back  to  Oak- 
lands  ;  the  open  grave ;  the  bearers  of  her 
bier — those  who  a  few  weeks  before  had 
danced  at  the  wedding ;  herself  a  corpse  in 
her  bridal  dress ;  her  newly  turfed  grave 
with  a  bird  singing  in  the  tree  above. 

This  vision  produced  such  an  impression 
that  she  awakened  her  sister  and  told  her  of  it. 

For  three  successive  nights  the  vision  ap- 
peared, which  so  affected  her  spirits  that  she 
determined  not  to  marry.  But  after  some 
months,  persuaded  by  her  family  to  think 
no  more  of  the  dream  which  continually 
haunted  her,  she  allowed  the  marriage  to 
take  place. 

All  was  a  realization  of  the  vision  :  the 
wedding,  the  journey  to  her  new  home, — 
every  incident,  however  small,  had  been  pre- 
sented before  her  in  the  dream. 

As  the  bridal  party  approached  the  house 
of  an  old  lady  near  Abingdon,  who  had 
made  preparations  for  their  entertainment, 
servants  were  hurrying  to  and  fro  in  great 
excitement,  and  one  was  galloping  off  for  a 
doctor,  as  the  old  lady  had  been  suddenly 
seized  with  a  violent  illness.  Even  this  was 
another  picture  in  the  ill-omened  vision  of 


76  *A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

the  bride,  who  every  day  found  something 
occurring  to  remind  her  of  it,  until  in  six 
months  her  own  death  made  the  last  sad 
scene  of  her  dream.  And  the  funeral  pro- 
cession back  to  Oaklands,  the  persons  offi- 
ciating, the  grave, — all  proved  a  realization 
of  her  vision. 

After  this  her  husband,  a  man  of  true 
Christian  character,  sought  in  foreign  lands 
to  disperse  the  gloom  overshadowing  his 
life.  But  whether  on  the  summit  of  Mount 
Blanc  or  the  lava-crusted  Vesuvius ;  among 
the  classic  hills  of  Rome  or  the  palaces  of 
France  ;  in  the  art-galleries  of  Italy  or  the 
regions  of  the  Holy  Land, — he  carries  ever 
in  his  heart  the  image  of  his  fair  bride  and 
the  quiet  grave  at  Oaklands. 


VEFOTiE  THE  WA%  77 


CHAPTER   VIIL 

ANOTHER  charming  residence,  not  far 
from  Oaklands,*  which  attracted  visitors 
from  various  quarters,  was  Buena  Vista,  where 
we  passed  many  happy  hours  of  childhood. 

This  residence — large  and  handsome — was 
situated  on  an  eminence  overlooking  pas- 
tures and  sunny  slopes,  with  forests  and 
mountain   views   in    the    distance. 

The  interior  of  the  house  accorded  with 
the  outside,  every  article  being  elegant  and 
substantial. 

The  owner,!  a  gentleman  of  polished  man- 
ners, kind  and  generous  disposition,  a  sin- 
cere Christian  and  zealous  churchman,  was 
honored  and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him. 

His  daughters,  a  band  of  lovely  young 
girls,  presided  over  his  house,  dispensing  its 
hospitality  with  grace  and  dignity.  Their 
mother's  death,  which  occurred  when  they 

*  General  Watts' s  place,  Roanoke, 
f  George  P.  Tayloe,  Esq. 


78  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

were  very  young,  had  given  them  house- 
hold cares  which  would  have  been  con- 
siderable but  for  the  assistance  of  Uncle 
Billy,  the  butler, — an  all-important  character 
presiding  with  imposing  dignity  over  domes- 
tic affairs. 

His  jet-black  face  was  relieved  by  a  head 
of  gray  hair  with  a  small,  round,  bald  center- 
piece ;  and  the  expression  of  his  face  was 
calm  and  serene  as  he  presided  over  the 
pantry,  the  table,  and  the  tea-waiters. 

His  mission  on  earth  seemed  to  be  keep- 
ing the  brightest  silver  urns,  sugar-dishes, 
cream-jugs,  and  spoons ;  flavoring  the  best 
ice-creams  ;  buttering  the  hottest  rolls,  muf- 
fins, and  waffles  ;  chopping  the  best  salads  ; 
folding  the  whitest  napkins ;  handing  the 
best  tea  and  cakes  in  the  parlor  in  the  even- 
ings ;  and  cooling  the  best  wine  for  dinner. 
Indeed,  he  was  so  essentially  a  part  of  the 
establishment  that  in  recalling  those  old 
days  at  Buena  Vista  the  form  of  Uncle 
Billy  comes  silently  back  from  the  past  and 
takes  its  old  place  about  the  parlors,  the 
halls,  and  the  dining-room,  making  the  pic- 
ture complete. 

And  thus  upon  the  canvas  of  every  old 


■■/«6?2a^ 


7-  ■ 


'HIS  MISSION   ON   EARTH  SEEMED  TO  BE  KEEPING  THE  BRIGHTEST 
SILVER  URNS."— Page  78. 


rBEFO%E  THE  WA\.  79 

home  picture  come  to  their  accustomed 
places  the  forms  of  dusky  friends,  who  once 
shared  our  homes,  our  firesides,  our  affec- 
tions,— and  who  will  share  them,  as  in  the 
past,  never  more. 

Of  all  the  plantation  homes  we  loved 
and  visited,  the  brightest,  sweetest  memories 
cluster  around  Grove  Hill,*  a  grand  old 
place  in  the  midst  of  scenery  lovely  and 
picturesque,  to  reach  which  we  made  a- 
journey  across  the  Blue  Ridge — those  giant 
mountains  from  whose  winding  roads  and 
lofty  heights  we  had  glimpses  of  exquisite 
scenery  in  the  valleys  below. 

Thus  winding  slowly  around  these  moun- 
tain heights  and  peeping  down  from  our  old 
carriage  windows,  we  beheld  nature  in  its 
wildest  luxuriance.  The  deep  solitude  ;  the 
glowing  sunlight  over  rock,  forest,  and  glen  ; 
the  green  valleys  deep  down  beneath,  diver- 
sified by  alternate  light  and  shadow, — all  to- 
gether photographed  on  our  hearts  pictures 
never  to  fade. 

Not  all  the  towers,  minarets,  obelisks,  pal- 
aces, gem-studded  domes  of  "  art  and  man's 

*  The  old  seat  of  the  Breckinridges,  Botetourt  County, 


80  jj  G1%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

device,"  can  reach  the  soul  like  one  of  these 
sun-tinted  pictures  in  their  convex  frames  of 
rock  and  vines ! 

Arrived  at  Grove  Hill,  how  enthusiastic 
the  welcome  from  each  member  of  the 
family  assembled  in  the  front  porch  to  meet 
us!  How  joyous  the  laugh!  How  deli- 
ciously  cool  the  wide  halls,  the  spacious  par- 
lor, the  dark  polished  walnut  floors!  How 
bright  the  flowers !  How  gay  the  spirits  of 
all  assembled ! 

One  was  sure  of  meeting  here  pleasant 
people  from  Virginia,  Baltimore,  Florida, 
South  Carolina,  and  Kentucky,  with  whom 
the  house  was  filled  from  May  till  No- 
vember. 

How  delightfully  passed  the  days,  the 
weeks !  What  merry  excursions,  fishing- 
parties,  riding-parties  to  the  Indian  Spring, 
the  Cave,  the  Natural  Bridge  !  What  pleas- 
ant music,  and  tableaux,  and  dancing,  in  the 
evenings ! 

For  the  tableaux  we  had  only  to  open  an 
old  chest  in  the  garret  and  help  ourselves  to 
rich  embroidered  white  and  scarlet  dresses, 
with  other  costumes  worn  by  the  grand- 
mother of  the  family  nearly  a  hundred  years 


'BEFORE  THE  WA\.  81 

before,  when  her  husband  was  in  public  life 
and  she  one  of  the  queens  of  society. 

What  sprightly  conversazioni  in  our 
rooms  at  night! — young  girls  will  become 
confidential  and  eloquent  with  each  other  at 
night,  however  reserved  and  quiet  during 
the  day. 

Late  in  the  night  these  talks  continued, 
with  puns  and  laughter,  until  checked  by 
a  certain  young  gentleman,  now  a  minister, 
who  was  wont  to  bring  out  his  flute  in  the 
flower-garden  under  our  windows,  and  give 
himself  up  for  an  hour  or  more  to  the  most 
sentimental  and  touching  strains,  thus 
breaking  in  upon  sprightly  remarks  and 
repartees,  some  of  which  are  remembered 
to  this  day.  A  characteristic  conversation 
ran  thus  : 

"Girls!"  said  one,  "would  it  not  be 
charming  if  we  could  all  take  a  trip  together 
to  Niagara  ?  " 

"  Well,  why  could  we  not  ?  "  was  the  re- 
sponse. 

"  Oh !  "  replied  another,  "  the  idea  of  us 
poor  Virginia  girls  taking  a  trip !  " 

"  Indeed,"  said  one  of  the  Grove  Hill  girls, 
"  it  would  be  impossible.     For  here  are  we 


82  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  V11{GINI4 

on  this  immense  estate, — four  thousand 
acres,  two  large,  handsome  residences, 
and  three  hundred  negroes, — regarded  as 
wealthy,  and  yet,  to  save  our  lives,  we  could 
not  raise  money  enough  for  a  trip  to  New 
York  ! " 

"  Nor  get  a  silk-velvet  cloak !  "  said  her 
sister,  laughing. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  other.  "  Girls  !  I  have 
been  longing  and  longing  for  a  silk-velvet 
cloak,  but  never  could  get  the  money  to  buy 
one.  But  last  Sunday,  at  the  village  church, 
what  should  I  see  but  one  of  the  Joneses 
sweeping  in  with  a  long  velvet  cloak  almost 
touching  the  floor!  And  you  could  set  her 
father's  house  in  our  back  hall !  But,  then, 
she  is  so  fortunate  as  to  own  no  negroes." 

"  What  a  happy  girl  she  must  be  !  "  cried 
a  chorus  of  voices.  "  No  negroes  to  sup- 
port !  We  could  go  to  New  York  and 
Niagara,  and  have  velvet  cloaks,  too,  if  we 
only  had  no  negroes  to  support  !  But  all 
our  money  goes  to  provide  for  them  as  soon 
as  the  crops  are  sold  !  " 

"Yes,"  said  one  of  the  Grove  Hill  girls; 
"  here  is  our  large  house  without  an  article 
of  modern   furniture.     The  parlor  curtains 


*BEFO%E   THE  WA%.  83 

are  one  hundred  years  old,  the  old-fash- 
ioned mirrors  and  recess  tables  one  hundred 
years  old,  and  we  long  in  vain  for  money  to 
buy  something  new." 

"  Well !  "  said  one  of  the  sprightliest  girls, 
"  we  can  get  up  some  of  our  old  diamond 
rings  or  breastpins  which  some  of  us  have 
inherited,  and  travel  on  appearances !  We 
have  no  modern  clothes,  but  the  old  rings 
will  make  us  look  rich  !  And  a  party  of 
poor,  rich  Virginians  will  attract  the  com- 
miseration and  consideration  of  the  world 
when  it  is  known  that  for  generations  we  have 
not  been  able  to  leave  our  plantations !  " 

After  these  conversations  we  would  fall 
asleep,  and  sleep  profoundly,  until  aroused 
next  morning  by  an  army  of  servants  polish- 
ing the  hall  floors,  waxing  and  rubbing  them 
with  a  long-handled  brush  weighted  by  an 
oven  lid.  This  made  the  floor  like  a  "  sea 
of  glass,"  and  dangerous  to  walk  upon  imme- 
diately after  the  polishing  process,  being 
especially  disastrous  to  small  children,  who 
were  continually  slipping  and  falling  before 
breakfast. 

The  lady  *  presiding  over  this  establish- 
*  Mrs.  Cary  Breckinridge. 


84  ^  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

ment  possessed  a  cultivated  mind,  bright 
conversational  powers,  and  gentle  temper, 
with  a  force  of  character  which  enabled  her 
judiciously  to  direct  the  affairs  of  her  house- 
hold, as  well  as  the  training  and  education 
of  her  children. 

She  always  employed  an  accomplished 
tutor,  who  added  to  the  attractiveness  of 
her  home  circle. 

She  helped  the  boys  with  their  Latin,  and 
the  girls  with  their  compositions.  In  her 
quiet  way  she  governed,  controlled,  sug- 
gested everything ;  so  that  her  presence  was 
required  everywhere  at  once. 

While  in  the  parlor  entertaining  her  guests 
with  bright,  agreeable  conversation,  she  was 
sure  to  be  wanted  by  the  cooks  (there  were 
six  !)  to  "  taste  or  flavor  "  something  in  the 
kitchen ;  or  by  the  gardener,  to  direct  the 
planting  of  certain  seeds  or  roots, — and  so 
with  every  department.  Even  the  minister 
— there  was  always  one  living  in  her  house 
— would  call  her  out  to  consult  over  his  text 
and  sermon  for  the  next  Sunday,  saying  he 
could  rely  upon  her  judgment  and  discrimi- 
nation. 

Never  thinking  of  herself,  her  heart  over- 


*BEFO%E  THE   IVA%.  85 

flowing  with  sympathy  and  interest  for 
others,  she  entered  into  the  pleasures  of  the 
young  as  well  as  the  sorrows  of  the  old. 

If  the  boys  came  in  from  a  fox  or  deer 
chase,  their  pleasure  was  incomplete  until  it 
had  been  described  to  her  and  enjoyed  with 
her  again. 

The  flower-vases  were  never  entirely  beau- 
tiful until  her  hand  had  helped  to  arrange 
the  flowers. 

The  girls'  laces  were  never  perfect  until 
she  had  gathered  and  crimped  them. 

Her  sons  were  never  so  happy  as  when 
holding  her  hand  and  caressing  her.  And 
the  summer  twilight  found  her  always  in  the 
vine-covered  porch,  seated  by  her  husband, — 
a  dear,  kind  old  gentleman, — her  hand  rest- 
ing in  his,  while  he  quietly  and  happily 
smoked  his  pipe  after  the  day's  riding  over 
his  plantation,  interviewing  overseers,  millers, 
and  blacksmiths,  and  settling  up  accounts. 

One  more  reminiscence,  and  the  Grove 
Hill  picture  will  be  done.  No  Virginia 
home  being  complete  without  some  promi- 
nent negro  character,  the  picture  lacking 
this  would  be  untrue  to  nature,  and  with- 
out the  finishing  touch.     And  not  to  have 


86  jt  GIT{L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

"  stepped  in "  to  pay  our  respects  to  old 
Aunt  Betsy  during  a  visit  to  Grove  Hill 
would  have  been  looked  upon — as  it  should 
be  to  omit  it  here  —  a  great  breach  of 
civility ;  for  the  old  woman  always  received 
us  at  her  door  with  a  cordial  welcome  and 
a  hearty  shake  of  the  hand. 

"  Lor'  bless  de  child'en  !  "  she  would  say. 
"  How  dey  does  grow !  Done  grown  up 
young  ladies  !  Set  down,  honey.  I  mighty 
glad  to  see  you.  An'  why  didn't  your  ma* 
come  ?  I  would  love  to  see  Miss  Fanny. 
She  always  was  so  good  an'  so  pretty. 
Seems  to  me  it  aint  been  no  time  sence  she 
and  Miss  Emma  " — her  own  mistress — "  use' 
to  play  dolls  togedder,  an'  I  use'  to  bake 
sweet  cakes  for  dem,  an'  cut  dem  out  wid 
de  pepper-box  top  for  dar  doll  parties  ;  an' 
dey  loved  each  other  like  sisters." 

"  Well,  Aunt  Betsy,"  we  would  ask,  "  how 
is  your  rheumatism  now?  " 

"  Lor',  honey,  I  nuver  spec's  to  git  over 
dat.  But  some  days  I  can  hobble  out  an' 
feed  de  chickens ;  an'  I  can  set  at  my  win- 
dow an'  make  the  black  child'en  feed  'em, 
an'  I  love  to  think  I'm  some  'count  to  Miss 

*  "  Miss  Fanny." 


% 


•''■•a 


'HOW   DEY  DOES  GROW!"- Page  86. 


'BEFOTiE   THE  WA%.  87 

Emma.  An'  Miss  Emma's  child'en  can't 
do  'thout  old  '  Mammy  Betsy,'  for  I  takes 
care  of  all  dar  pet  chickens.  Me  an'  my 
ole  man  gittin'  mighty  ole  now ;  but  Miss 
Emma  an'  all  her  child'en  so  good  to  us  we 
has  pleasure  in  livin'  yet." 

At  last  the  shadows  began  to  fall  dark 
and  chill  upon  this  once  bright  and  happy 
home. 

Old  Aunt  Betsy  lived  to  see  the  four  boys 
— her  mistress's  brave  and  noble  sons — 
buckle  their  armor  on  and  go  forth  to  battle 
for  the  home  they  loved  so  well, — the  young- 
est still  so  young  that  he  loved  his  pet 
chickens,  which  were  left  to  "  Mammy 
Betsy's "  special  care  ;  and  when  the  sad 
news  at  length  came  that  this  favorite 
young  master  was  killed,  amid  all  the  agony 
of  grief  no  heart  felt  the  great  sorrow  more 
sincerely  than  hers. 

Another  and  still  another  of  these  noble 
youths  fell  after  deeds  of  heroic  valor,  their 
graves  the  battlefield,  a  place  of  burial  fit  for 
men  so  brave.  Only  one— the  youngest — 
was  brought  home  to  find  a  resting-place 
beside  the  graves  of  his  ancestors. 

The     old    man,    their    father,    his    mind 


88  Ji  GIT{L'S  LIFE  IN  Vl\GMlA 

shattered  by  grief,  continued  day  after 
day,  for  several  years,  to  sit  in  the  vine- 
covered  porch,  gazing  wistfully  out,  imagin- 
ing sometimes  that  he  saw  in  the  distance 
the  manly  forms  of  his  sons,  returning 
home,  mounted  on  their  favorite  horses,  in 
the  gray  uniforms  worn  the  day  they  went 
off. 

Then  he,  too,  followed,  where  the  "  din  of 
war,  the  clash  of  arms,"  is  heard  no  more. 

To  recall  these  scenes  so  blinds  my  eyes 
with  tears  that  I  cannot  write  of  them. 
Some  griefs  leave  the  heart  dumb.  They 
have  no  language  and  are  given  no  lan- 
guage, because  no  other  heart  could  under- 
stand, nor  could  they  be  alleviated  if  shared. 


'BEFORE  THE  WA% 


-       CHAPTER  IX. 

It  will  have  been  observed  from  these 
reminiscences  that  the  mistress  of  a  Virginia 
plantation  was  more  conspicuous,  although 
not  more  important,  than  the  master.  In 
the  house  she  was  the  mainspring,  and  to 
her  came  all  the  hundred  or  three  hundred 
negroes  with  their  various  wants  and  con- 
stant applications  for  medicine  and  every 
conceivable  requirement. 

Attending  to  these,  with  directing  her 
household  affairs  and  entertaining  company, 
occupied  busily  every  moment  of  her  life. 
While  all  these  devolved  upon  her,  it  some- 
times seemed  to  me  that  the  master  had 
nothing  to  do  but  ride  around  his  estate 
on  the  most  delightful  horse,  receive  reports 
from  overseers,  see  that  his  pack  of  hounds 
was  fed,  and  order  "  repairs  about  the  mill  " 
— the  mill  seemed  always  needing  repairs  ! 

This  view  of  the  subject,  however,  being 
entirely  from  a  feminine  standpoint,  may  have 


9°  *A   G1%VS  LIFE  IN   VIRGINIA 

been  wholly  erroneous ;  for  doubtless  his 
mind  was  burdened  with  financial  matters 
too  weighty  to  be  grasped  and  compre- 
hended   by   our   sex, 

Nevertheless,  the  mistress  held  complete 
sway  in  her  own  domain  ;  and  that  this  fact 
was  recognized  will  be  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing incident: 

A  gentleman,  a  clever  and  successful 
lawyer,  one  day  discovering  a  negro  boy 
in  some  mischief  about  his  house,  and 
determining  forthwith  to  chastise  him,  took 
him  into  the  yard  for  that  purpose.  Break- 
ing a  small  switch,  and  in  the  act  of  coming 
down  with  it  upon  the  boy,  he  asked :  "  Do 
you  know,  sir,  who  is  master  on  my  place?" 

"Yas,  sah ! "  quickly  replied  the  boy. 
"  Miss   Charlotte,    sah  !  " 

Throwing  aside  the  switch,  the  gentleman 
ran  into  the  house,  laughed  a  half  hour,  and 
thus  ended  his  only  experiment  at  interfer- 
ing in  his  wife's  domain. 

His  wife,  "  Miss  Charlotte,"  as  the 
negroes  called  her,  was  gentle  and  indul- 
gent to  a  fault,  which  made  the  incident 
more  amusing. 

It  may  appear  singular,  yet  it  is  true,  that 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  91 

our  women,  although  having  sufficient  self- 
possession  at  home,  and  accustomed  there 
to  command  on  a  large  scale,  became  pain- 
fully timid  if  ever  they  found  themselves  in 
a  promiscuous  or  public  assemblage,  shrink- 
ing from  everything  like  publicity. 

Still,  these  women,  to  whom  a  whole 
plantation  looked  up  for  guidance  and  in- 
struction, could  not  fail  to  feel  a  certain 
consciousness  of  superiority,  which,  although 
never  displayed  or  asserted  in  manner,  be- 
came a  part  of  themselves.  They  were  dis- 
tinguishable everywhere — for  what  reason, 
exactly,  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  out, 
for  their  manners  were  too  quiet  to  attract 
attention.  Yet  a  captain  on  a  Mississippi 
steamboat  said  to  me  :  "  I  always  know  a  Vir- 
ginia lady  as  soon  as  she  steps  on  my  boat." 

"How  do  you  know?"  I  asked,  suppos- 
ing he  would  say:  "By  their  plain  style  of 
dress  and  antiquated  breastpins." 

Said  he :  "  I've  been  running  a  boat  from 
Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans  for  twenty-five 
years,  and  often  have  three  hundred  passen- 
gers from  various  parts  of  the  world.  But 
if  there  is  a  Virginia  lady  among  them,  I 
find   it    out   in   half    an   hour.     They   take 


92  ^  GIT{L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

things  quietly,  and  don't  complain.  Do 
you  see  that  English  lady  over  there  ? 
Well,  she  has  been  complaining  all  the  way 
up  the  Mississippi  River.  Nobody  can 
please  her.  The  cabin-maid  and  steward 
are  worn  out  with  trying  to  please  her. 
She  says  it  is  because  the  mosquitoes  bit 
her  so  badly  coming  through  Louisiana. 
But  we  are  almost  at  Cincinnati  now, 
haven't  seen  a  mosquito  for  a  week,  and 
she  is  still  complaining! 

"  Then,"  he  continued,  "  the  Virginia 
ladies  look  as  if  they  could  not  push  about 
for  themselves,  and  for  this  reason  I  always 
feel  like  giving  them  more  attention  than 
the  other  passengers." 

"  We  are  inexperienced  travelers,"  I 
replied. 

And  these  remarks  of  the  captain  con- 
vinced me — I  had  thought  it  before — that 
Virginia  women  should  never  undertake  to 
travel,  but  content  themselves  with  staying 
at  home.  However,  such  restriction  would 
have  been  unfair  unless  they  had  felt  like 
the  Parisian  who,  when  asked  why  the 
Parisians  never  traveled,  replied  :  "  Because 
all  the  world  comes  to  Paris ! " 


"BEFO%E  THE  WA%.  93 

Indeed,  a  Virginian  had  an  opportunity 
for  seeing  much  choice  society  at  home  ; 
for  our  watering-places  attracted  the  best 
people  from  other  States,  who  often  visited 
us  at  our  houses. 

On  the  Mississippi  boat  to  which  I  have 
alluded  it  was  remarked  that  the  negro 
servants  paid  the  Southerners  more  con- 
stant and  deferential  attention  than  the 
passengers  from  the  non-slaveholding  States, 
although  some  of  the  latter  were  very  agree- 
able and  intelligent,  and  conversed  with 
the  negroes  on  terms  of  easy  familiarity, — - 
showing,  what  I  had  often  observed,  that 
the  negro  respects  and  admires  those  who 
make  a  "  social  distinction  "  more  than  those 
who  make  none. 


94  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER  X. 

We  were  surprised  to  find  in  an  "  Ode 
to  the  South,"  by  Mr.  M.  F.  Tupper,  the 
following  stanza: 

"  Yes,  it  is  slander  to  say  you  oppressed  them  : 
Does  a  man  squander  the  prize  of  his  pelf  ? 
Was  it  not  often  that  he  who  possessed  them 
Rather  was  owned  by  his  servants  himself  ? " 

This  was  true,  but  that  it  was  known  in 
the  outside  world  we  thought  impossible, 
when  all  the  newspaper  and  book  accounts 
represented  us  as  miserable  sinners  for 
whom  there  was  no  hope  here  or  hereafter, 
and  called  upon  all  nations,  Christian  and 
civilized,  to  revile,  persecute,  and  exter- 
minate us.  Such  representations,  however, 
differed  so  widely  from  the  facts  around  us 
that  when  we  heard  them  they  failed  to 
produce  a  very  serious  impression,  occasion- 
ing often  only  a  smile,  with  the  exclama- 
tion :  "  How  little  those  people  know  about 
us! 


*BEFOT{E  THE  WAT{.  95 

We  had  not  the  vanity  to  think  that  the 
European  nations  cared  or  thought  about 
us,  and  if  the  Americans  believed  these 
accounts,  they  defamed  the  memory  of  one 
held  up  by  them  as  a  model  of  Chris- 
tian virtue — George  Washington,  a  Virginia 
slave-owner,  whose  kindness  to  his  "  peo- 
ple," as  he  called  his  slaves,  entitled  him 
to  as  much  honor  as  did  his  deeds  of 
prowess. 

But  to  return  to  the  two  last  lines  of  the 
stanza  : 

"  Was  it  not  often  that  he  who  possessed  them 
Rather  was  owned  by  his  servants  himself?  " 

I  am  reminded  of  some  who  were  actually 
held  in  such  bondage  ;  especially  an  old 
gentleman  who,  together  with  his  whole 
plantation,  was  literally  possessed  by  his 
slaves. 

This  gentleman  *  was  a  widower,  and  no 
lady  presided  over  his  house. 

His  figure  was  of  medium  height  and 
very  corpulent.  His  features  were  regular 
and  handsome,  his  eyes  were  soft  brown, 
almost  black,  and  his  hair  was  slightly  gray. 

*  William  M.  Radford,  of  Greenfield,  Botetourt  County. 


96  ^  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

The  expression  of  his  countenance  was  so 
full  of  goodness  and  sympathy  that  a 
stranger  meeting  him  in  the  road  might 
have  been  convinced  at  a  glance  of  his 
kindness  and  generosity. 

He  was  never  very  particular  about  his 
dress,  yet  never  appeared   shabby. 

Although  a  graduate  in  law  at  the  uni- 
versity, an  ample  fortune  made  it  unneces- 
sary for  him  to  practice  his  profession. 
Still  his  taste  for  literature  made  him  a 
constant  reader,  and  his  conversation  was 
instructive  and  agreeable. 

His  house  was  old  and  rambling,  and — 
I  was  going  to  say  his  servants  kept  the 
keys,  but  I  remember  there  were  no  keys 
about  the  establishment.  Even  the  front 
door  had  no  lock  upon  it.  Everybody 
retired  at  night  in  perfect  confidence,  how- 
ever, that  everything  was  secure  enough, 
and  it  seemed  not  important  to  lock  the 
doors. 

The  negro  servants  who  managed  the 
house  were  very  efficient,  excelling  especially 
in  the  culinary  department,  and  serving  up 
dinners  which  were  marvels. 

The  superabundance  on  the  place  enabled 


-BEFORE  THE  IV A%  97 

them  not  only  to  furnish  their  master's  table 
with  the  choicest  meats,  vegetables,  cakes, 
pastries,  etc.,  but  also  to  supply  themselves 
bountifully,  and  to  spread  in  their  own 
cabins  sumptuous  feasts,  and  wedding  and 
party  suppers  rich  enough  for  a  queen, 

To  this  their  master  did  not  object,  for  he 
told  them  "  if  they  would  supply  his  table 
always  with  an  abundance  of  the  best  bread, 
meats,  cream,  and  butter,  he  cared  not  what 
became  of  the  rest." 

Upon  this  principle  the  plantation  was 
conducted,  The  well-filled  barns,  the  stores 
of  bacon,  lard,  flour,  etc.,  literally  belonged 
to  the  negroes,  who  allowed  their  master  a 
certain  share ! 

Doubtless  they  entertained  the  sentiment 
of  a  negro  boy  who,  on  being  reproved  by 
his  master  for  having  stolen  and  eaten  a 
turkey,  replied :  "  Well,  massa,  you  see,  you 
got  less  turkey,  but  you  got  dat  much  more 
niggah !  " 

While  we  were  once  visiting  at  this  planta- 
tion, the  master  of  the  house  described  to  us 
a  dairy  just  completed  on  a  new  plan,  which 
for  some  weeks  had  been  such  a  hobby 
with   him   that   he  had   actually  purchased 


9§  JL  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

a  lock  for  it,  saying  he  would  keep  the  key 
himself — which  he  never  did — and  have  the 
fresh  mutton  always  put  there. 

"  Come,"  said  he,  as  he  finished  describing 
it,  "  let  us  go  down  and  look  at  it.  Bring 
me  the  key,"  he  said  to  a  small  African, 
who  soon  brought  it,  and  we  proceeded  to 
the    dairy. 

Turning  the  key  in  the  door,  the  old  gen- 
tleman said :  u  Now  see  what  a  fine  piece 
of  mutton  I  have  here  !  " 

But  on  entering  and  looking  around,  no 
mutton  was  to  be  seen,  and  instead  thereof 
were  buckets  of  custard,  cream,  and  blanc- 
mange. The  old  gentleman,  greatly  discon- 
certed, called  to  one  of  the  servants :  "  Flo- 
rinda!  Where  is  my  mutton  that  I  had  put 
here  this  morning  ?  " 

Florinda  replied  :  "  Nancy  took  it  out,  sah, 
an'  put  it  in  de  ole  spring  house.  She  say 
dat  was  cool  enough  place  for  mutton,  An' 
she  gwine  have  a  big  party  to-night,  an' 
want  her  jelly  an'  custards  to  keep  cool !  " 

At  this  the  old  gentleman  was  rapidly  be= 
coming  provoked,  when  we  laughed  so  much 
at  Nancy's  "  cool  "  proceeding  that  his  usual 
good  nature  was  restored. 


T'*'  :■ 


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"WHERE   IS  MY  MUTTON  ?  "—Page  98. 


<BEFO%E  THE  W 'A%  99 

On  another  occasion  we  were  one  evening 
sitting  with  this  gentleman  in  his  front 
porch  when  a  poor  woman  from  the  neigh- 
boring village  came  in  the  yard,  and,  stopping 
before  the  door,  said  to  him  : 

"  Mr.  Radford,  I  came  to  tell  you  that  my 
cow  you  gave  me  has  died." 

"  What  did  you  say,  my  good  woman  ?  " 
asked  Mr.  Radford,  who  was  quite  deaf. 

The  woman  repeated  in  a  louder  voice : 
"  The  cow  you  gave  me  has  died.  And  she 
died  because  I  didn't  have  anything  to  feed 
her  with." 

Turning  to  us,  his  countenance  full  of 
compassion,  he  said :  "  I  ought  to  have 
thought  about  that,  and  should  have  sent 
the  food  for  her  cow."  Then,  speaking  to 
the  woman  :  "  Well,  my  good  woman,  I  will 
give  you  another  cow  to-morrow,  and  send 
you  plenty  of  provision  for  her."  And  the 
following  day  he  fulfilled  his  promise. 

Another  incident  occurs  to  me,  showing 
the  generous  heart  of  this  truly  good  man. 
One  day  on  the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  train, 
observing  a  gentleman  and  lady  in  much 
trouble,  he  ventured  to  inquire  of  them  the 
cause,  and  was  informed  that  they  had  lost 


loo  Jl  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

all  their  money  and  their  railroad  tickets  at 
the  last  station. 

He  asked  the  gentleman  where  he  lived, 
and  on  what  side  he  was  during  the  war. 

"  I  am  from  Georgia,"  replied  the  gen- 
tleman, "  and  was,  of  course,  with  the 
South." 

"  Well/'  said  Mr.  Radford,  pulling  from 
his  capacious  pocket  a  large  purse,  which 
he  handed  the  gentleman,  "  help  yourself, 
sir,  and  take  as  much  as  will  be  necessary  to 
carry  you  home/' 

The  astonished  stranger  thanked  him  sin- 
cerely, and  handed  him  his  card,  saying  :  ''  I 
will  return  the  money  as  soon  as  I  reach 
home,'" 

Returned  to  his  own  home,  and  relating 
the  incidents  of  his  trip,  Mr,  Radford  men- 
tioned this,  when  one  of  his  nephews  laughed 
and  said  :  "  Well,  uncle,  we  Virginia  people 
are  so  easily  imposed  upon !  You  don't 
think  that  man  will  ever  return  your  money, 
do  you?" 

"  My  dear,"  replied  his  uncle,  looking  at 
him  reproachfully  and  sinking  his  voice,  '''  I 
was  fully  repaid  by  the  change  which  came 
over  the  man's  countenance." 


TSEFOTiE   THE   WA%  ioi 

It  is  due  to  the  Georgian  to  add  that  on 
reaching  home  he  returned  the  money  with 
a  letter  of  thanks. 

In  sight  of  the  hospitable  home  of  Mr. 
Radford  was  another,  equally  attractive, 
owned  by  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Bowyer. 
These  places  had  the  same  name,  Greenfield, 
the  property  having  descended  to  two  sisters, 
the  wives  of  these  gentlemen.  They  might 
have  been  called  twin  establishments,  as  one 
was  almost  a  facsimile  of  the  other.  At  both 
were  found  the  same  hospitality,  the  same 
polished  floors,  the  same  style  of  loaf-bread 
and  velvet  rolls,  the  only  difference  be- 
tween the  two  being  that  Mr.  Bowyer  kept 
his  doors  locked  at  night,  observed  more 
system,  and  kept  his  buggies  and  carriages 
in  better  repair. 

These  gentlemen  were  also  perfectly  con- 
genial. Both  had  graduated  in  law,  read 
the  same  books,  were  members  of  the  same 
church,  knew  the  same  people,  liked  and 
disliked  the  same  people,  held  the  same 
political  opinions,  enjoyed  the  same  old 
Scotch  songs,  repeated  the  same  old  English 
poetry,  smoked  the  same  kind   of  tobacco, 


102  ^  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VI%GINI4 

in  the  same  kind  of  pipes,  abhorred  alike 
intoxicating  drinks,  and  deplored  the  in- 
crease of  bar-rooms  and  drunkenness  in  our 
land. 

For  forty  years  they  passed  together  a 
part  of  every  day  or  evening,  smoking  and 
talking  over  the  same  events  and  people.  It 
was  a  picture  to  see  them  at  night  over  a 
blazing  wood  fire,  their  faces  bright  with 
good  nature  ;  and  a  treat  to  hear  all  their 
reminiscences  of  people  and  events  long 
past.  With  what  circumstantiality  could 
they  recall  old  law  cases,  and  describe  old 
duels,  old  political  animosities  and  excite- 
ments !  What  merry  laughs  they  some- 
times  had ! 

Everything  on  one  of  these  plantations 
seemed  to  belong  equally  to  the  other.  If 
the  ice  gave  out  at  one  place,  the  servants 
went  to  the  other  for  it  as  a  matter  of 
course ;  or  if  the  buggies  or  carriage  were 
out  of  order  at  Mr.  Radford's,  which  was 
often  the  case,  the  driver  would  go  over  for 
Mr.  Bowyer's  without  even  mentioning  the 
circumstance,  and  so  with  everything.  The 
families  lived  thus  harmoniously  with  never 
the  least  interruption  for  forty  years. 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%  103 

Now  and  then  the  old  gentlemen  enjoyed 
a  practical  joke  on  each  other,  and  on  one 
occasion  Mr.  Radford  succeeded  so  effectu- 
ally in  quizzing  Mr.  Bowyer  that  whenever 
he  thought  of  it  afterward  he  fell  into  a  dan- 
gerous fit  of  laughter. 

It  happened  that  a  man  who  had  married 
a  distant  connection  of  the  Greenfield  family 
concluded  to  take  his  wife,  children,  and 
servants  to  pass  the  summer  there,  dividing 
the  time  between  the  two  houses.  The  man- 
ners, character,  and  political  proclivities  of 
this  visitor  became  so  disagreeable  to  the  old 
gentlemen  that  they  determined  he  should 
not  repeat  his  visit,  although  they  liked  his 
wife.  One  day  Mr.  Bowyer  received  a  letter 
signed  by  this  objectionable  individual — it 
had  really  been  written  by  Mr.  Radford — 
informing  Mr.  Bowyer  that,  as  one  of  the 
children  was  sick,  and  the  physician  advised 
country  air,  he  would  be  there  the  following 
Thursday  with  his  whole  family,  to  stay  some 
months. 

"  The  impudent  fellow!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Bowyer  as  soon  as  he  read  the  letter.  "  He 
knows  how  Radford  and  myself  detest  him  ! 
Still  I  am  sorry  for  his  wife.     But  I  will  not 


IQ4  Ji  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

be  dragooned  and  outgeneraled  by  that  con- 
temptible fellow.  No  !  I  will  leave  home 
to-day  !  " 

Going  to  the  back  door,  he  called  in  a  loud 
voice  for  his  coachman,  and  ordered  his 
carriage.  "  I  am  going  "  said  he,  "  to  Grove 
Hill  for  a  week,  and  from  there  to  Lexington, 
with  my  whole  family,  and  don't  know  when 
I  shall  be  at  home  again.  It  is  very  incon- 
venient," said  he  to  his  wife,  "  but  I  must 
leave  home." 

Hurrying  up  the  carriage  and  the  family, 
they  were  soon  off  on  their  unexpected 
trip. 

They  stayed  at  Grove  Hill,  seven  miles 
off,  a  week,  during  which  time  Mr.  Bowyer 
every  morning  mounted  his  horse  and  rode 
timidly  around  the  outskirts  of  his  own 
plantation,  peeping  over  the  hills  at  his 
house,  but  afraid  to  venture  nearer,  feel- 
ing assured  it  was  occupied  by  the  obnox- 
ious visitor.  He  would  not  even  make 
inquiries  of  his  negroes  whom  he  met,  as 
to  the  state  and  condition  of  things  in  his 
house. 

Concluding  to  pursue  his  journey  to 
Lexington,   and   halfway   there,    he   met   a 


rBEF01{E  THE  IV A%.  105 

young  nephew  of  Mr.  Radford's  who  hap- 
pened to  know  all  about  the  quiz,  and, 
immediately  suspecting  the  reason  of  Mr. 
Bowyer's  exile  from  home,  inquired  where 
he  was  going,  how  long  he  had  been  from 
home,  etc.  Soon  guessing  the  truth,  and 
thinking  the  joke  had  been  carried  far 
enough,  he  told  the  old  gentleman  he  need 
not  travel  any  further,  for  it  was  all  a  quiz  of 
his  uncle's,  and  there  was  no  one  at  his 
house.  Thereupon  Mr.  Bowyer,  greatly  re- 
lieved, turned  back  and  went  his  way  home 
rejoicing,  but  "  determined  to  pay  Rad- 
ford," he  said,  for  such  a  practical  joke, 
which  had  exiled  him  from  home  and  given 
him  such  trouble.  This  caused  many  a  good 
laugh  whenever  it  was  told  throughout  the 
neighborhood. 

The  two  estates  of  which  I  am  writing 
were  well  named — Greenfield  ;  for  the  fields 
and  meadows  were  of  the  freshest  green,  and, 
with  majestic  hills  around,  the  fine  cattle 
and  horses  grazing  upon  them,  formed  a 
noble  landscape. 

This  land  had  descended  in  the  same 
family  since  the  Indian  camp-fires  ceased  to 
burn  there,  and   the  same  forests  were  still 


106  ^  GILL'S  .LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

untouched  where  once  stood  the  Indians' 
wigwams. 

In  this  connection  I  am  reminded  of  a 
tradition  in  the  Greenfield  family  which 
showed  the  heroism  of  a  Virginia  boy : 

The  first  white  proprietor  of  this  place, 
the  great-grandfather  of  the  present  owners, 
had  also  a  large  estate  in  Montgomery 
County,  called  Smithfield,  where  his  family 
lived,  and  where  was  a  fort  for  the  protection 
of  the  whites  when  attacked  by  the  Indians. 

Once,  while  the  owner  was  at  his  Green- 
field place,  the  Indians  surrounded  Smith- 
field,  and  the  white  women  and  children  took 
refuge  in  the  fort,  while  the  men  prepared 
for  battle.  They  wanted  the  proprietor  of 
Smithfield  to  help  them  fight  and  to  take 
command,  for  he  was  a  brave  man  ;  but  they 
could  not  spare  a  man  to  carry  him  the  news. 
So  they  concluded  to  send  one  of  his  young 
sons,  a  lad  thirteen  years  old,  who  did  not 
hesitate,  but,  mounting  a  fleet  horse,  set  off 
after  dark  and  rode  all  night  through  dense 
forests  filled  with  hostile  Indians,  reaching 
Greenfield,  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  next 
morning.  He  soon  returned  with  his  father, 
and    the    Indians   were   repulsed.      And     I 


tBEFO%E  THE  WA%.  107 

always  thought  that  boy  was  courageous 
enough  for  his  name  to  live  in  history.* 

The  Indians  afterward  told  how,  the  whole 
day  before  the  fight,  several  of  their  chiefs 
had  been  concealed  near  the  Smithfield 
house  under  a  large  haystack,  upon  which 
the  white  children  had  been  sliding  and 
playing  all  day,  little  suspecting  the  gleam- 
ing tomahawks  and  savage  men  beneath. 

From  the  Greenfield  estate  in  Botetourt 
and  the  one  adjacent  went  the  ancestors  of 
the  Prestons  and  Breckinridges,  who  made 
these  names  distinguished  in  South  Carolina 
and  Kentucky.  And  on  this  place  are  the 
graves  of  the  first  Breckinridges  who  arrived 
in  this  country. 

All  who  visited  at  the  homesteads  just 
described  retained  ever  after  a  recollection 
of  the  perfectly  cooked  meats,  bread,  etc., 
seen  upon  the  tables  at  both  houses,  there 
being  at  each  place  five  or  six  negro  cooks 
who  had  been  taught  by  their  mistresses  the 
highest  style  of  the  culinary  art. 

During  the  summer  season  several  of 
these  cooks  were  hired  at  the  different 
watering-places,  where  they  acquired  great 
*  John  Preston,  afterward  Governor  of  Virginia. 


io8  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

fame  and  made  for  themselves  a  consider- 
able sum  of  money  by  selling  recipes. 

A  lady  of  the  Greenfield  family,  who  mar- 
ried and  went  to  Georgia,  told  me  she  had 
often  tried  to  make  velvet  rolls  like  those 
she  had  been  accustomed  to  see  at  her  own 
home,  but  never  succeeded.  Her  mother 
and  aunt,  who  had  taught  these  cooks,  hav- 
ing died  many  years  before,  she  had  to  apply 
to  the  negroes  for  information  on  such  sub- 
jects, and  they,  she  said,  would  never  show 
her  the  right  way  to  make  them.  Finally, 
while  visiting  at  a  house  in  Georgia,  this 
lady  was  surprised  to  see  velvet  rolls  ex- 
actly like  those  at  her  home. 

"Where  did  you  get  the  recipe?"  she 
soon  asked  the  lady  of  the  house,  who 
replied  :  "  I  bought  it  from  old  Aunt  Rose, 
a  colored  cook,  at  the  Virginia  Springs,  and 
paid  her  five  dollars." 

"  One  of  our  own  cooks,  and  my  mother's 
recipe,"  exclaimed  the  other,  "and  I  had  to 
come  all  the  way  to  Georgia  to  get  it,  for 
Aunt  Rose  never  would  show  me  exactly 
how  to  make  them  ! " 


•BEFORE  THE  WA%.  i°9 


CHAPTER  XI. 

NOT  far  from  Greenfield  was  a  place  called 
Rustic  Lodge.* 

This  house,  surrounded  by  a  forest  of 
grand  old  oaks,  was  not  large  or  handsome. 
But  its  inmates  were  ladies  and  gentlemen 
of  the  old  English  style. 

The  grandmother,  Mrs.  Burwell,  about 
ninety  years  of  age,  had  in  her  youth  been 
one  of  the  belles  at  the  Williamsburg  court 
in  old  colonial  days.  A  daughter  of  Sir 
Dudley  Digges,  and  descended  from  English 
nobility,  she  had  been  accustomed  to  the 
best  society.  Her  manners  and  conversa- 
tion were  dignified  and  attractive. 

Among  reminiscences  of  colonial  times 
she  remembered  Lord  Botetourt,  of  whom 
she  related  interesting  incidents. 

The  son  of  this  old  lady,  about  sixty  years 
of  age,  and  the  proprietor  of  the  estate,  was 
a  true  picture    of   the  old    English   gentle- 

*  Colonel  Burwell's. 


no  Jl   GI%L'SILIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

man.  His  manners,  conversation,  thread- 
cambric  shirt-frills,  cuffs,  and  long  queue  tied 
with  a  black  ribbon,  made  the  picture  com- 
plete. His  two  daughters,  young  ladies  of 
refinement,  had  been  brought  up  by  their 
aunt  and  grandmother  to  observe  strictly 
all  the  proprieties  of  life. 

This  establishment  was  proverbial  for 
its  order  and  method,  the  most  systematic 
rules  being  in  force  everywhere.  The  meals 
were  served  punctually  at  the  same  instant 
every  day.  Old  Aunt  Nelly  always  dressed 
and  undressed  her  mistress  at  the  same  hour. 
The  cook's  gentle  "  tapping  at  the  chamber 
door"  called  the  mistress  to  an  interview 
with  that  functionary  at  the  same  moment 
every  morning, — an  interview  which,  lasting 
half  an  hour,  and  never  being  repeated  dur- 
ing the  day,  resulted  in  the  choicest  dinners, 
breakfasts,  and  suppers. 

Exactly  at  the  same  hour  every  morning 
the  old  gentleman's  horse  was  saddled, 
and  he  entered  the  neighboring  village  so 
promptly  as  to  enable  some  of  the  inhabit- 
ants to  set  their  clocks  by  him. 

This  family  had  possessed  great  wealth  in 
eastern  Virginia  during  the  colonial  govern- 


^BEFOXE   THE  WA%.  in 

ment,  under  which  many  of  its  members  held 
high  offices. 

But  impoverished  by  high  living,  enter- 
taining company,  and  a  heavy  British  debt, 
they  had  been  reduced  in  their  possessions  to 
about  fifty  negroes,  with  only  money  enough 
to  purchase  this  plantation,  upon  which  they 
had  retired  from  the  gay  and  charming 
society  of  Williamsburg.  They  carried  with 
them,  however,  some  remains  of  their  former 
grandeur  :  old  silver,  old  jewelry,  old  books, 
old  and  well-trained  servants,  and  an  old 
English  coach  which  was  the  curiosity  of  all 
other  vehicular  curiosities.  How  the  family 
ever  climbed  into  it,  or  got  out  of  it,  and 
how  the  driver  ever  reached  the  dizzy  height 
upon  which  he  sat,  was  the  mystery  of  my 
childhood. 

But,  although  egg-shaped  and  suspended 
in  mid-air,  this  coach  had  doubtless,  in  its 
day,  been  one  of  considerable  renown,  drawn 
by  four  horses,  with  footman,  postilion,  and 
driver  in  English  livery. 

How  sad  must  have  been  its  reflections 
on  finding  itself  shorn  of  these  respect- 
able surroundings,  and,  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, drawn  by  two  republican  horses,  with 


H2  <A  G1T{L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

footman  and  driver  dressed  in  republican 
jeans ! 

A  great-uncle  of  this  family,  unlike  the 
coach,  never  would  become  republicanized  ; 
and  his  obstinate  loyalty  to  the  English 
crown,  with  his  devotion  to  everything 
English,  gained  for  him  the  title  "  English 
Louis,"  by  which  name  he  is  spoken  of  in 
the  family  to  this  day.  An  old  lady  told 
me  not  long  ago  that  she  remembered,  when 
a  child,  the  arrival  of  "  English  Louis  "  at 
Rustic  one  night,  and  his  conversation  as 
they  sat  around  the  fire, — how  he  deplored 
a  republican  form  of  government,  and  the 
misfortunes  which  would  result  from  it,  say- 
ing: "All  may  go  smoothly  for  about  sev- 
enty years,  when  civil  war  will  set  in.  First 
it  will  be  about  these  negro  slaves  we  have 
around  us,  and  after  that  it  will  be  some- 
thing else."  And  how  true  "  English 
Louis'  "  prediction  has  proven.* 

Doubtless  this  gentleman  was  avoided  and 
proscribed  on  account  of  his  English  procliv- 

*  On  the  route  to  Rustic  was  a  small  village  called  Lib- 
erty, approaching  which,  and  hearing  the  name,  "  English 

Louis  "  swore  he  would   not  pass  through  any  such 

little  republican  town,  and,  turning  his  horses,  traveled 
many  miles  out  of  his  way  to  avoid  it. 


*BEFO%E  THE  WAT{.  113 

ities.  For  at  that  day  the  spirit  of  repub- 
licanism and  hatred  to  England  ran  high  ; 
so  that  an  old  gentleman— one  of  our  rela- 
tives whom  I  well  remember — actually  took 
from  his  parlor  walls  his  coat-of-arms,  which 
had  been  brought  by  his  grandfather  from 
England,  and,  carrying  it  out  in  his  yard, 
built  a  fire,  and,  collecting  his  children 
around  it  to  see  it  burn,  said:  "Thus  let 
everything  English  perish  !  " 

Should  I  say  what  I  think  of  this  proceed- 
ing I  would  not  be  considered,  perhaps,  a 
true  republican  patriot. 

I  must  add  a  few  words  to  my  previous 
mention  of  Smithfield,  in  Montgomery 
County,  the  county  which  flows  with  heal- 
ing waters. 

Smithfield,  like  Greenfield,  is  owned  by 
the  descendants  of  the  first  white  family 
who  settled  there  after  the  Indians,  and  its 
verdant  pastures,  noble  forests,  and  moun- 
tain streams  and  springs,  form  a  prospect 
wondrously  beautiful. 

This  splendid  estate  descended  to  three 
brothers  of  the  Preston  family,  who  equally 
divided  it,  the  eldest  keeping  the  homestead, 


H4  *A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

and  the  others  building  attractive  homes  on 
their  separate  plantations. 

The  old  homestead  was  quite  antique  in 
appearance.  Inside,  the  high  mantelpieces 
reaching  nearly  to  the  ceiling,  which  was 
also  high,  and  the  high  wainscoting,  to- 
gether with  the  old  furniture,  made  a  picture 
of  the  olden  time. 

When  I  first  visited  this  place,  the  old 
grandmother,  then  eighty  years  of  age,  was 
living.  She,  like  the  old  lady  at  Rustic, 
had  been  a  belle  in  eastern  Virginia  in 
her  youth.  When  she  married  the  owner  of 
Smithfield  sixty  years  before,  she  made  the 
bridal  jaunt  from  Norfolk  to  this  place  on 
horseback,  two  hundred  miles.  Still  exceed- 
ingly intelligent  and  interesting,  she  enter- 
tained us  with  various  incidents  of  her 
early  life,  and  wished  to  hear  all  the  old 
songs  which  she  had  then  heard  and  sung 
herself. 

"When  I  was  married,"  said  she,  "and 
first  came  to  Smithfield,  my  husband's  sisters 
met  me  in  the  porch,  and  were  shocked  at 
my  pale  and  delicate  appearance.  One  of 
them,  whispering  to  her  brother,  asked  : 
'  Why  did  you  bring  that  ghost  up  here  ? ' 


rBEFO%E  THE  WA%  "5 

And  now,"  continued  the  old  lady,  "  I  have 
outlived  all  who  were  in  the  house  that  day, 
and  all  my  own  and  my  husband's  family." 

This  was  certainly  an  evidence  of  the 
health-restoring  properties  of  the  water  and 
climate  in  this  region. 

The  houses  of  these  three  brothers  were 
filled  with  company  winter  and  summer, 
making  within  themselves  a  delightful  so- 
ciety. The  visitors  at  one  house  were 
equally  visitors  at  the  others,  and  the  suc- 
cession of  dinner  and  evening  parties  from 
one  to  the  other  made  it  difficult  for  a 
visitor  to  decide  at  whose  particular  house 
he  was  staying. 

One  of  these  brothers,  Colonel  Robert 
Preston,  had  married  a  lovely  lady  from 
South  Carolina,  whose  perfection  of  charac- 
ter and  disposition  endeared  her  to  every- 
one who  knew  her.  Everybody  loved  her 
at  sight,  and  the  better  she  was  known  the 
more  she  was  beloved.  Her  warm  heart 
was  ever  full  of  other  people's  troubles  or 
joys,  never  thinking  of  herself.  In  her  house 
many  an  invalid  was  cheered  by  her  tender 
care,  and  many  a  drooping  heart  revived  by 
her    bright    Christian     spirit.      She     never 


n6  Jl  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

omitted  an  opportunity  of  pointing  the  way 
to  heaven ;  and  although  surrounded  by  all 
the  allurements  which  gay  society  and 
wealth  could  bring,  she  did  not  swerve  an 
instant  from  the  quiet  path  along  which  she 
directed  others.  In  the  midst  of  bright  and 
happy  surroundings  her  thoughts  and  hopes 
were  constantly  centered  upon  the  life 
above ;  and  her  conversation — which  was 
the  reflex  of  her  heart — reverted  ever  to 
this  theme,  which  she  made  attractive  to  old 
and  young. 

The  eldest  of  the  three  brothers  was 
William  Ballard  Preston,  once  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  in  the  cabinet  of  President  Taylor. 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%  H7 


CHAPTER  XII, 

In  the  region  of  country  just  described 
and  in  the  counties  beyond  abound  the 
finest  mineral  springs,  one  or  more  being 
found  on  every  plantation.  At  one  place 
there  were  seven  different  springs,  and  the 
servants  had  a  habit  of  asking  the  guests  and 
family  whether  they  would  have — before 
breakfast — a  glass  of  White  Sulphur,  Yellow 
Sulphur,  Black  Sulphur,  Alleghany,  Alum, 
or  Limestone  water ! 

The  old  Greenbrier  White  Sulphur  Springs 
was  a  favorite  place  of  resort  for  eastern 
Virginians  and  South  Carolinians  at  a  very 
early  date,  when  it  was  accessible  only  by 
private  conveyances,  and  all  who  passed  the 
summer  there  went  in  private  carriages.  In 
this  way  certain  old  Virginia  and  South 
Carolina  families  met  every  season,  and 
these  old  people  told  us  that  society  there 
was  never  so  good  after  the  railroads  and 
stages  brought  "  all  sorts  of  people,  from  all 


n8  Jl  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

sorts  of  places."  This,  of  course,  we  knew 
nothing  about  from  experience,  and  it 
sounded  rather  egotistical  in  the  old  people 
to  say  so,  but  that  is  what  they  said. 

Indeed,  these  "  old  folks  "  talked  so  much 
about  what  "  used  to  be  in  their  day  "  at  the 
old  White  Sulphur,  that  I  found  it  hard  to 
convince  myself  that  I  had  not  been  bodily 
present,  seeing  with  my  own  eyes  certain 
knee-buckled  old  gentlemen,  with  long 
queues,  and  certain  Virginia  and  South  Caro- 
lina belles  attired  in  short-waisted,  simple, 
white  cambrics,  who  passed  the  summers 
there.  These  white  cambrics,  we  were  told, 
had  been  carried  in  minute  trunks  behind  the 
carriages ;  and  were  considered,  with  a  few 
jewels,  and  a  long  black  or  white  lace  veil 
thrown  over  the  head  and  shoulders,  a  com- 
plete outfit  for  the  reigning  belles  !  Another 
curiosity  was  that  these  white  cambric 
dresses  —  our  grandmothers  told  us  —  re- 
quired very  little  "doing  up:"  one  such 
having  been  worn  by  Mrs.  General  Wash- 
ington—  so  her  granddaughter  told  me  — 
a  whole  week  without  requiring  washing ! 
It  must  have  been  an  age  of  remarkable 
women   and    remarkable    cambrics !      How 


eBEFOT{E   THE  WA%  119 

little  they  dreamed  then  of  an  era  when 
Saratoga  trunks  would  be  indispensable  to 
ladies  of  much  smaller  means  than  Virginia 
and  South  Carolina  belles ! 

To  reach  these  counties  flowing  with  min- 
eral waters,  the  families  from  eastern  Vir- 
ginia and  from  South  Carolina  passed 
through  a  beautiful  region  of  Virginia  known 
as  Piedmont,  and  those  who  had  kinsfolk  or 
acquaintances  there  usually  stopped  to  pay 
them  a  visit.  Consequently  the  Piedmont 
Virginians  were  generally  too  busy  enter- 
taining summer  guests  to  visit  the  Springs 
themselves.  Indeed,  why  should  they  ?  No 
more  salubrious  climate  could  be  found  than 
their  own,  and  no  scenery  more  grand  and 
beautiful.  But  it  was  necessary  for  the  tide- 
water Virginians  to  leave  their  homes  every 
summer  on  account  of  chills  and  fevers. 

In  the  lovely  Piedmont  region,  over  which 
the  "  Peaks  of  Otter"  rear  their  giant  heads, 
and  chains  of  blue  mountains  extend  as  far 
as  eye  can  reach,  were  scattered  many  pleas- 
ant and  picturesque  homes.  And  in  this 
section  my  grandfather  bought  a  plantation, 
when  the  ancestral  estates  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State  had  been  sold  to  repay  the 


120  Ji  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

British  debt,  which  estates,  homesteads,  and 
tombstones  with  their  quaint  inscriptions, 
are  described  in  Bishop  Meade's  "  Old 
Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia." 

While  the  tide-water  Virginians  were 
already  practicing  all  the  arts  and  wiles 
known  to  the  highest  English  civilization  ; 
sending  their  sons  to  be  educated  in  Eng- 
land, and  receiving  therefrom  brocaded  silks 
and  powdered  wigs ;  and  dancing  the  minuet 
at  the  Williamsburg  balls  with  the  families 
of  the  noblemen  sent  over  to  govern  the 
colony, — Piedmont  was  still  a  dense  forest, 
the  abode  of  Indians  and  wild  animals. 

It  was  not  strange,  then,  that  the  Pied- 
mont Virginians  never  arrived  at  the  opulent 
manner  of  living  adopted  by  those  on  the 
James  and  York  rivers,  who,  tradition  tells 
us,  went  to  such  excess  in  high  living  as  to 
have  "hams  boiled  in  champagne,"  and  of 
whom  other  amusing  and  interesting  tales 
have  been  handed  down  to  us.  Although 
the  latter  were  in  advance  of  the  Piedmont 
Virginians  in  wealth  and  social  advantages, 
they  were  not  superior  to  them  in  honor, 
virtue,  kindness,  or  hospitality. 

It  has  been  remarked  that,  "  when  natural 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  121 

scenery  is  picturesque,  there  is  in  the  human 
character  something  to  correspond  ;  impres- 
sions made  on  the  retina  are  really  made  on 
the  soul,  and  the  mind  becomes  what  it 
contemplates." 

The  same  author  continues:  ''A  man  is 
not  only  like  what  he  sees,  but  he  is  what  he 
sees.  The  noble  old  Highlander  has  moun- 
tains in  his  soul,  whose  towering  peaks  point 
heavenward  ;  and  lakes  in  his  bosom,  whose 
glassy  surfaces  reflect  the  skies ;  and  foam- 
ing cataracts  in  his  heart  to  beautify  the 
mountain  side  and  irrigate  the  vale ;  and 
evergreen  firs  and  mountain  pines  that 
show  life  and  verdure  even  under  winter 
skies  !  " 

"On  the  other  hand,"  he  writes,  "the 
wandering  nomad  has  a  desert  in  his  heart ; 
its  dead  level  reflects  heat  and  hate  ;  a  sul- 
len, barren  plain, — no  goodness,  no  beauty, 
no  dancing  wave  of  joy,  no  gushing  rivulet 
of  love,  no  verdant  hope.  And  it  is  an  in- 
teresting fact  that  those  who  live  in  coun- 
tries where  natural  scenery  inspires  the  soul, 
and  where  the  necessities  of  life  bind  to  a 
permanent  home,  are  always  patriotic  and 
high-minded  ;  and  those  who  dwell  in  the 


122  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

desert  are  always  pusillanimous  and  grovel- 
ing !  " 

If  what  this  author  writes  be  true,  and  the 
character  of  the  Piedmont  Virginians  accords 
with  the  scenery  around  them,  how  their 
hearts  must  be  filled  with  gentleness  and 
charity  inspired  by  the  landscape  which 
stretches  far  and  fades  in  softness  against 
the  sky !  How  must  their  minds  be  filled 
with  noble  aspirations  suggested  by  the 
everlasting  mountains  !  How  their  souls 
must  be  filled  with  thoughts  of  heaven  as 
they  look  upon  the  glorious  sunsets  bathing 
the  mountains  in  rose-colored  light,  with 
the  towering  peaks  ever  pointing  heaven- 
ward and  seeming  to  say :  "  Behold  the  glory 
of  a  world  beyond  !  "  * 

Beneath  the  shadow  of  the  "  Peaks  "  were 
many  happy  homes  and  true  hearts,  and, 
among  these,  memory  recalls  none  more 
vividly  than  Otterburn  and  its  inmates. 

Otterburn  was  the  residence  of  a  gen- 
tleman and  his  wife  who,   having  no    chil- 

*  From  this  vicinity  went  nine  ministers  who  were  emi- 
nent in  their  several  churches  :  two  Episcopal  bishops,  one 
Methodist  bishop,  three  distinguished  Presbyterian  and 
three  Baptist  divines  of  talent  and  fame. 


^BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  123 

dren,  devoted  themselves  to  making  their 
home  attractive  to  visitors,  in  which  they 
succeeded  so  well  that  they  were  rarely  with- 
out company,  for  all  who  went  once  to  see 
them  went  again  and  again. 

This  gentleman,  Benjamin  Donald,  was  a 
man  of  high  character, — his  accomplishments, 
manner  and  appearance  marking  him  "rare," 
— "  one  in  a  century."  Above  his  fellow-men 
in  greatness  of  soul,  he  could  comprehend 
nothing  mean.  His  stature  was  tall  and 
erect ;  his  features  bold  ;  his  countenance 
open  and  impressive  ;  his  mind  vigorous  and 
cultivated  ;  his  bearing  dignified,  but  not 
haughty  ;  his  manners  simple  and  attract- 
ive ;  his  conversation  so  agreeable  and  en- 
livening that  the  dullest  company  became 
animated  as  soon  as  he  came  into  the  room. 
Truth  and  lofty  character  were  so  unmis- 
takably stamped  upon  him  that  a  day's  ac- 
quaintance convinced  one  he  could  be  trusted 
forever.  Brought  up  in  Scotland,  the  home 
of  his  ancestors,  in  him  were  blended  the 
best  points  of  Scotch  and  Virginia  character, 
— strict  integrity  and  whole-souled  gener- 
osity and  hospitality. 

How  many  days  and  nights  we  passed  at 


124  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  'UI%GINIA 

his  house,  and  in  childhood  and  youth  how 
many  hours  were  we  entertained  by  his 
bright  and  instructive  conversation  !  Espe- 
cially delightful  was  it  to  hear  his  stories  of 
Scotland,  which  brought  vividly  before  us 
pictures  of  its  lakes  and  mountains  and 
castles.  How  often  did  we  listen  to  his 
account  of  the  wedding-tour  to  Scotland, 
when  he  carried  his  Virginia  bride  to  the 
old  home  at  Greenock !  And  how  often  we 
laughed  about  the  Scotch  children,  his 
nieces  and  nephews,  who,  on  first  seeing  his 
wife,  clapped  their  hands  and  shouted  :  "  Oh, 
mother!  are  you  not  glad  uncle  did  not 
marry  a  black  woman?"  Hearing  he  was 
to  marry  a  Virginian,  they  expected  to  see 
a  savage  Indian  or  negro  !  And  some  of  the 
family  who  went  to  Liverpool  to  meet 
them,  and  were  looking  through  spy-glasses 
when  the  vessel  arrived,  said  they  were 
"  sure  the  Virginia  lady  had  not  come,  be- 
cause they  saw  no  one  among  the  passengers 
dressed  in  a  red  shawl  and  gaudy  bonnet 
like  an  Indian  "  ! 

From  this  we  thought  that  Europeans 
must  be  very  ignorant  of  our  country  and 
its  inhabitants,  and  we  have  since   learned 


'BEFORE   THE  IV A%  125 

that  their  children  are  purposely  kept  ignor- 
ant of  facts  in  regard  to  America  and  its 
people. 

Among  many  other  recollections  of  this 
dear  old  friend  of  Otterburn  I  shall  never 
forget  a  dream  he  told  us  one  night,  which 
so  impressed  us  that,  before  his  death,  we 
asked  him  to  write  it  out,  which  he  did  ; 
and,  as  the  copy  is  before  me  in  his  own 
handwriting,  I  will  insert  it  here : 

"  About  the  time  I  became  of  age  I  re- 
turned to  Virginia  for  the  purpose  of  looking 
after  and  settling  my  father's  estate.  Three 
years  thereafter  I  received  a  letter  from  my 
only  sister,  informing  me  that  she  was  going 
to  be  married,  and  pressing  me  in  the  most 
urgent  manner  to  return  to  Scotland  to  be 
present  at  her  marriage,  and  to  attend  to  the 
drawing  of  the  marriage  contract.  The  let- 
ter gave  me  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  as  it  did 
not  suit  me  to  leave  Virginia  at  that  time. 
I  went  to  bed  one  night,  thinking  much  on 
this  subject,  but  soon  fell  asleep,  and  dreamed 
that  I  landed  in  Greenock  in  the  night-time, 
and  pushed  for  home,  thinking  I  would  take 
my  aunt  and  sister  by  surprise. 


126  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

"  When  I  arrived  at  the  door,  I  found  all 
still  and  quiet,  and  the  out-door  locked.  I 
thought,  however,  that  I  had  in  my  pocket 
my  check-key,  with  which  I  quietly  opened 
the  door  and  groped  my  way  into  the  sitting- 
room,  but,  finding  no  one  there,  I  concluded 
they  had  gone  to  bed.  I  then  went  up- 
stairs to  their  bedroom,  and  found  that 
unoccupied.  I  then  concluded  they  had 
taken  possession  of  my  bedroom  in  my  ab- 
sence, but,  not  finding  them  there,  became 
very  uneasy  about  them.  Then  it  struck 
me  they  might  be  in  the  guest's  chamber,  a 
room  downstairs  kept  exclusively  for  com- 
pany. Upon  going  there  I  found  the  door 
partially  open  ;  I  saw  my  aunt  removing  the 
burning  coals  from  the  top  of  the  grate  pre- 
paratory to  going  to  bed.  My  sister  was 
sitting  up  in  bed,  and  as  I  entered  the  room 
she  fixed  her  eyes  upon  me,  but  did  not 
seem  to  recognize  me.  I  approached  toward 
her,  and,  in  the  effort  to  make  myself  known, 
awoke  and  found  it  all  a  dream.  At  break- 
fast next  morning  I  felt  wearied  and  sick, 
and  could  not  eat,  and  told  the  family  of  my 
(dream)  journey  overnight. 

"  I    immediately    commenced    preparing, 


"BEFOTiE  THE  IV A%  127 

and  in  a  very  short  time  returned  to  Scot- 
land. I  saw  my  sister  married,  and  she  and 
her  husband  set  off  on  their  '  marriage 
jaunt.'  About  a  month  thereafter  they 
returned,  and  at  dinner  I  commenced  telling 
them  of  my  dream  ;  but,  observing  they  had 
quit  eating  and  were  staring  at  me,  I  laughed, 
and  asked  what  was  the  matter,  whereupon 
my  brother-in-law  very  seriously  asked  me 
to  go  on.  When  I  finished,  they  asked  me  if 
I  remembered  the  exact  time  of  my  dream. 
I  told  them  it  distressed  and  impressed  me 
so  strongly  that  I  noted  it  down  at  the  time. 
I  pulled  out  my  pocketbook  and  showed 
them  the  date,  '  14th  day  of  May,'  written  in 
pencil.  They  all  rose  from  the  table  and 
took  me  into  the  bedroom  and  showed  me, 
written  with  pencil  on  the  white  mantelpiece, 
1  14th  of  May.' 

"  I  asked  them  what  that  meant,  and  was 
informed  that  on  that  very  night — and  the 
only  night  they  ever  occupied  that  room 
during  my  absence — my  aunt  was  taking  the 
coals  off  of  the  fire,  when  my  sister  screamed 
out :  '  Brother  has  come  !  ' 

"  My  aunt  scolded  her,  and  said  she  was 
dreaming;  but  she  said  she  had  not  been  to 


128  ji  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

sleep,  was  sitting  up  in  bed,  and  saw  me 
enter  the  room,  and  run  out  when  she 
screamed.  So  confident  was  she  that  she 
had  seen  me,  and  that  I  had  gone  off  and 
hidden,  that  the  whole  house  Avas  thoroughly 
searched  for  me,  and  as  soon  as  day  dawned 
a  messenger  was  sent  to  inquire  if  any  vessel 
had  arrived  from  America,  or  if  I  had  been 
seen  by  any  of  my  friends." 

No  one  who  visited  Otterburn  can  forget 
the  smiling  faces  of  the  negro  servants  about 
the  house,  who  received  the  guests  with  as 
true  cordiality  as  did  their  mistress,  express- 
ing their  pleasure  by  widespread  mouths 
showing  white  teeth  (very  white  by  contrast 
with  their  jet-black  skin),  and  when  the 
guests  were  going  away  always  insisted 
on  their  remaining  longer. 

One  of  these  negro  women  was  not  only 
an  efficient  servant,  but  a  valuable  friend  to 
her  mistress. 

In  the  absence  of  her  master  and  mistress 
she  kept  the  keys,  often  entertaining  their 
friends,  who,  in  passing  from  distant  planta- 
tions, were  accustomed  to  stop,  and  who 
received  from  her  a  cordial  welcome,  finding 


-BEFORE  THE  IV A%  129 

on  the  table  as  many  delicacies  as  if  the 
family  had  been  at  home. 

No  more  sincere  attachment  could  have 
existed  than  that  between  this  lady  and  her 
servant.  At  last,  when  the  latter  was  seized 
with  a  contagious  fever  which  ended  her 
life,  she  could  not  have  had  a  more  faithful 
friend  and  nurse  than  was  her  mistress. 

The  same  fever  attacked  all  the  negroes 
on  the  plantation,  and  none  can  describe 
the  anxiety,  care,  and  distress  of  their 
owners,  who  watched  by  their  beds  day  and 
night,  administering  medicine  and  relieving 
the  sick  and  dying. 


13°  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

AMONG  other  early  recollections  is  a  visit 
with  my  mother  to  the  plantation  of  a 
favorite  cousin,  not  far  from  Richmond,  and 
one  of  the  handsomest  seats  on  the  James 
River.  This  residence — Howard's  Neck* — 
was  a  favorite  resort  for  people  from  Rich- 
mond and  the  adjacent  counties,  and,  like 
many  others  on  the  river,  always  full  of 
guests ;  a  round  of  visiting  and  dinner 
parties  being  kept  up  from  one  house  to 
another,  so  that  the  ladies  presiding  over 
these  establishments  had  no  time  to  attend 
to  domestic  duties,  which  were  left  to  their 
housekeepers  while  they  were  employed 
entertaining  visitors. 

The  negroes  on  these  estates  appeared 
lively  and  happy — that  is,  if  singing  and 
laughing  indicate  happiness  ;  for  they  went 
to  their  work  in  the  fields  singing,  and  re- 
turned in  the  evening  singing,  after  which 

*  Dr.  Cunningham's, 


"BEFOTiE   THE  W A%.  131 

they  often  spent  the  whole  night  visiting 
from  one  plantation  to  another,  or  dancing 
until  day  to  the  music  of  the  banjo  or  "  fid- 
dle." These  dances  were  wild  and  bois- 
terous, their  evolutions  being  like  those  of 
the  savage  dances  described  by  travelers  in 
Africa.  Although  the  most  perfect  tim- 
ists,  their  music,  with  its  wild,  melancholy 
cadence,  half  savage,  half  civilized,  cannot 
be  imitated  or  described.  Many  a  mid- 
night were  we  wakened  by  their  wild  chor- 
uses, sung  as  they  returned  from  a  frolic 
or  "  corn-shucking,"  sounding  at  first  like 
some  hideous,  savage  yell,  but  dying  away 
on  the  air,  echoing  a  cadence  melancholy 
and  indescribable,  with  a  peculiar  pathos, 
and  yet  without  melody  or  sweetness. 

Corn-shuckings  were  occasions  of  great 
hilarity  and  good  eating.  The  negroes 
from  various  plantations  assembled  at  night 
around  a  huge  pile  of  corn.  Selecting  one 
of  their  number — usually  the  most  original 
and  amusing,  and  possessed  of  the  loudest 
voice — they  called  him  "captain."  The 
captain  seated  himself  on  top  of  the  pile — a 
large  lightwood  torch  burning  in  front  of 
him,   and,   while   he    shucked,    improvised 


I32  *A   Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

words  and  music  to  a  wild  "  recitative,"  the 
chorus  of  which  was  caught  up  by  the  army 
of  shuckers  around.  The  glare  of  the 
torches  on  the  black  faces,  with  the  wild 
music  and  impromptu  words,  made  a  scene 
curious  even  to  us  who  Avere  so  accustomed 
to  it. 

After  the  corn  was  shucked  they  assem- 
bled around  a  table  laden  with  roasted  pigs, 
mutton,  beef,  hams,  cakes,  pies,  coffee,  and 
other  substantiate — many  participating  in 
the  supper  who  had  not  in  the  work.  The 
laughing  and  merriment  continued  until  one 
or  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

On  these  James  River  plantations  distin- 
guished foreigners  were  often  entertained, 
who,  visiting  Richmond,  desired  to  see 
something  of  Virginia  country  life.  Mr. 
Thackeray  was  once  a  guest  at  one  of  these 
places,  but  Dickens  never  visited  them. 
Could  he  have  passed  a  month  at  any  one  of 
the  homes  I  have  described,  he  would,  I  am 
sure,  have  written  something  more  flatter- 
ing of  Americans  and  American  life  than  is 
found  in  "Martin  Chuzzlewit  "  and  "Ameri- 
can Notes."     However,  with  these  we  should 


VEFOliE  THE  WA%.  133 

not  quarrel,  as  some  of  the  sketches,  espe- 
cially the  one  on  "  tobacco-chewers,"  we  can 
recognize. 

Every  nation  has  a  right  to  its  prejudices 
— certainly  the  English  people  have  such  a 
right  as  regards  America,  this  country  ap- 
pearing to  the  English  eye  like  a  huge  mush- 
room, the  growth  of  a  night,  and  unsub- 
stantial. But  it  is  surely  wrong  to  censure 
a  whole  nation — as  some  have  done  the 
Southern  people — for  the  faults  of  a  few. 
Although  the  right  of  a  nation  to  its  preju- 
dices be  admitted,  no  one  has  a  right,  with- 
out thorough  examination  and  acquaintance 
with  the  subject,  to  publish  as  facts  the 
exaggerated  accounts  of  another  nation,  put 
forth  by  its  enemies.  The  world  in  this 
way  receives  very  erroneous  impressions. 

For  instance,  we  have  no  right  to  suppose 
the  Germans  a  cruel  race  because  of  the 
following  paragraph  clipped  from  a  recent 
newspaper : 

"  The  cruelty  of  German  officers  is  a 
matter  of  notoriety,  but  an  officer  in  an 
artillery  regiment  has  lately  gone  beyond 
precedent  in  ingenuity  of  cruelty.     Some  of 


134  *A  Gl\L'S  LIFE  IN  VIT{GINU 

his  men  being  insubordinate,  he  punished 
them  by  means  of  a  '  spurring  process,' 
which  consisted  in  jabbing  spurs  persistently 
and  brutally  into  their  legs.  By  this  process 
his  men  were  so  severely  injured  that  they 
had  to  go  to  the  hospital." 

Neither  have  we  a  right  to  pronounce  all 
Pennsylvanians  cruel  to  their  "  helps,"  as 
they  call  them,  because  a  Pennsylvania  lady 
told  me  "  the  only  way  she  could  manage 
her  help" — a  white  girl  fourteen  years 
old — "was  by  holding  her  head  under  the 
pump  and  pumping  water  upon  it  until  she 
lost  her  breath," — a  process  I  could  not  have 
conceived,  and  which  filled  me  with  horror. 

But  sorrow  and  oppression,  we  suppose, 
may  be  found  in  some  form  in  every  clime, 
and  in  every  phase  of  existence  some  hearts 
are  "  weary  and  heavy  laden."  Even 
Dickens,  whose  mind  naturally  sought  and 
fed  upon  the  comic,  saw  wrong  and  oppres- 
sion in  the  "humane  institutions"  of  his 
own  land  ! 

And  Macaulay  gives  a  painful  picture  of 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  life  as  waiting-maid  to 
Queen  Charlotte — from  which  we  are  not  to 


\ 


'BEFORE  THE  IVAT{.  135 

infer,  however,  that  all  queens  are  cruel  to 
their  waiting-maids. 

Mme.  D'Arblay — whose  maiden  name 
was  Frances  Burney — was  the  first  female 
novelist  in  England  who  deserved  and 
received  the  applause  of  her  countrymen. 
The  most  eminent  men  of  London  paid 
homage  to  her  genius.  Johnson,  Burke, 
Windham,  Gibbon,  Reynolds,  Sheridan,  were 
her  friends  and  ardent  eulogists.  In  the 
midst  of  her  literary  fame,  surrounded  by 
congenial  friends,  herself  a  star  in  this  select 
and  brilliant  coterie,  she  was  offered  the 
place  of  waiting-maid  in  the  palace.  She 
accepted  the  position,  and  bade  farewell  to 
all  congenial  friends  and  pursuits.  "And 
now  began,"  says  Macaulay,  "a  slavery  of 
five  years — of  five  years  taken  from  the  best 
part  of  her  life,  and  wasted  in  menial 
drudgery.  The  history  of  an  ordinary  day 
was  this  :  Miss  Burney  had  to  rise  and  dress 
herself  early,  that  she  might  be  ready  to 
answer  the  royal  bell,  which  rang  at  half 
after  seven.  Till  about  eight  she  attended 
in  the  queen's  dressing-room,  and  had  the 
honor  of  lacing  her  august  mistress's  stays, 
and  of  putting  on  the  hoop,  gown,  and  neck- 


I36  <A  Gl%VS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

handkerchief.  The  morning  was  chiefly 
spent  in  rummaging  drawers  and  laying  fine 
clothes  in  their  proper  places.  Then  the 
queen  was  to  be  powdered  and  dressed  for 
the  day.  Twice  a  week  her  Majesty's  hair 
had  to  be  curled  and  craped ;  and  this 
operation  added  a  full  hour  to  the  business 
of  the  toilet.  It  was  generally  three  before 
Miss  Burney  was  at  liberty.  At  five  she  had 
to  attend  her  colleague,  Mme.  Schwellen- 
berg,  a  hateful  old  toadeater,  as  illiterate  as 
a  chambermaid,  proud,  rude,  peevish,  unable 
to  bear  solitude,  unable  to  conduct  herself 
with  common  decency  in  society.  With  this 
delightful  associate  Frances  Burney  had  to 
dine  and  pass  the  evening.  The  pair  gen- 
erally remained  together  from  five  to  eleven, 
and  often  had  no  other  company  the  whole 
time.  Between  eleven  and  twelve  the  bell 
rang  again.  Miss  Burney  had  to  pass  a  half 
hour  undressing  the  queen,  and  was  then  at 
liberty  to  retire. 

"  Now  and  then,  indeed,  events  occurred 
which  disturbed  the  wretched  monotony  of 
Frances  Burney's  life.  The  court  moved 
from  Kew  to  Windsor,  and  from  Windsor 
back  to  Kew. 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%.  137 

"A  more  important  occurrence  was  the 
king's  visit  to  Oxford.  Then  Miss  Burney 
had  the  honor  of  entering  Oxford  in  the  last 
of  a  long  string  of  carriages,  which  formed 
the  royal  procession,  of  walking  after  the 
queen  all  day  through  refectories  and 
chapels,  and  of  standing  half  dead  with 
fatigue  and  hunger,  while  her  august  mistress 
was  seated  at  an  excellent  cold  collation. 
At  Magdalen  College  Frances  was  left  for 
a  moment  in  a  parlor,  where  she  sank 
down  on  a  chair.  A  good-natured  equerry 
saw  that  she  was  exhausted,  and  shared  with 
her  some  apricots  and  bread,  which  he  had 
wisely  put  in  his  pockets.  At  that  moment 
the  door  opened,  the  queen  entered,  the 
wearied  attendants  sprang  up,  the  bread  and 
fruit  were  hastily  concealed. 

"  After  this  the  king  became  very  ill,  and 
during  more  than  two  years  after  his  recov- 
ery Frances  dragged  on  a  miserable  existence 
at  the  palace.  Mme.  Schwellenberg  became 
more  and  more  insolent  and  intolerable, 
and  now  the  health  of  poor  Frances  began 
to  give  way  :  and  all  who  saw  her  pale  face, 
her  emaciated  figure,  and  her  feeble  walk  pre- 
dicted that  her  sufferings  would  soon  be  over. 


I38  *A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

"  The  queen  seems  to  have  been  utterly 
regardless  of  the  comfort,  the  health,  the  life, 
of  her  attendants,  Weak,  feverish,  hardly- 
able  to  stand,  Frances  had  still  to  rise  before 
seven,  in  order  to  dress  the  sweet  queen,  and 
sit  up  till  midnight,  in  order  to  undress  the 
sweet  queen.  The  indisposition  of  the  hand- 
maid could  not  and  did  not  escape  the  notice 
of  her  royal  mistress.  But  the  established 
doctrine  of  the  court  was  that  all  sickness 
was  to  be  considered  as  a  pretense  until  it 
proved  fatal.  The  only  way  in  which  the 
invalid  could  clear  herself  from  the  suspicion 
of  malingering,  as  it  is  called  in  the  army, 
was  to  go  on  lacing  and  unlacing,  till  she 
fell  down  dead  at  the  royal  feet." 

Finally  Miss  Burney's  father  pays  her  a 
visit  in  this  palace  prison,  when  "  she  told 
him  that  she  was  miserable ;  that  she  was 
worn  with  attendance  and  want  of  sleep ; 
that  she  had  no  comfort  in  life, — nothing  to 
love,  nothing  to  hope ;  that  her  family  and 
friends  were  to  her  as  though  they  were  not, 
and  were  remembered  by  her  as  men  re- 
member the  dead.  From  daybreak  to  mid- 
night the  same  killing  labor,  the  same  recrea- 
tion, more  hateful  than  labor  itself,  followed 


^BEFOXE  THE  WA%  139 

each    other   without  variety,   without    any 
interval    of   liberty   or   repose." 

Her  father's  veneration  for  royalty 
amounting  to  idolatry,  he  could  not  bear  to 
remove  her  from  the  court — "  and,  between 
the  dear  father  and  the  sweet  queen,  there 
seemed  to  be  little  doubt  that  some  day  or 
other  Frances  would  drop  dozvu  a  corpse. 
Six  months  had  elapsed  since  the  interview 
between  the  parent  and  the  daughter.  The 
resignation  was  not  sent  in.  The  sufferer 
grew  worse  and  worse.  She  took  bark,  but 
it  failed  to  produce  a  beneficial  effect. 
She  was  stimulated  with  wine ;  she  was 
soothed  with  opium,  but  in  vain.  Her 
breath  began  to  fail.  The  whisper  that  she 
was  in  a  decline  spread  through  the  court. 
The  pains  in  her  side  became  so  severe  that 
she  was  forced  to  crawl  from  the  card-table 
of  the  old  fury,  Mme.  Schwellenberg,  to 
whom  she  was  tethered,  three  or  four  times 
in  an  evening,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
hartshorn.  Had  she  been  a  negro  slave,  a 
humane  planter  would  have  excused  her 
from  work.  But  her  Majesty  showed  no 
mercy.  Thrice  a  day  the  accursed  bell  still 
rang ;  the  queen  was  still  to  be  dressed  for 


I4Q  <A  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

the  morning  at  seven,  and  to  be  dressed  for  the 
day  at  noon,  and  to  be  undressed  at  midnight." 

At  last  Miss  Burney's  father  was  moved 
to  compassion  and  allowed  her  to  write  a 
letter  of  resignation.  "  Still  I  could  not," 
writes  Miss  Burney  in  her  diary,  "  summon 
courage  to  present  my  memorial  from  see- 
ing the  queen's  entire  freedom  from  such 
an  expectation.  For  though  I  was  fre- 
quently so  ill  in  her  presence  that  I  could 
hardly  stand,  I  saw  she  concluded  me,  while 
life  remained,  inevitably  hers. 

"  At  last,  with  a  trembling  hand,  the 
paper  was  delivered.  Then  came  the  storm. 
Mme.  Schwellenberg  raved  like  a  maniac. 
The  resignation  was  not  accepted.  The 
father's  fears  were  aroused,  and  he  declared, 
in  a  letter  meant  to  be  shown  to  the  queen, 
that  his  daughter  must  retire.  The  Schwel- 
lenberg raged  like  a  wildcat.  A  scene 
almost  horrible  ensued. 

"  The  queen  then  promised  that,  after  the 
next  birthday,  Miss  Burney  should  be  set  at 
liberty.  But  the  promise  was  ill  kept ;  and 
her  Majesty  showed  displeasure  at  being 
reminded  of  it." 

At  length,  however,  the  prison  door  was 


-BEFO%E  THE  WAT{.  14 r 

opened,  and  Frances  was  free  once  more. 
Her  health  was  restored  by  traveling,  and 
she  returned  to  London  in  health  and 
spirits.  Macaulay  tells  us  that  she  went  to 
visit  the  palace,  "her  old  dungeon,  and  found 
her  successor  already  far  on  the  way  to  the 
grave,  and  kept  to  strict  duty,  from  morning 
till  midnight,  with  a  sprained  ankle  and  a 
nervous  fever!' 

An  ignorant  and  unlettered  woman  would 
doubtless  not  have  found  this  life  in  the 
palace  tedious,  and  our  sympathy  would  not 
have  been  aroused  for  her;  for  as  long  as 
the  earth  lasts  there  must  be  human  beings 
fitted  for  every  station,  and  it  is  supposed, 
till  the  end  of  all  things,  there  must  be 
cooks,  housemaids,  and  dining-room  serv- 
ants, which  will  make  it  never  possible  for 
the  whole  human  family  to  stand  entirely 
upon  the  same  platform  socially  and  intel- 
lectually. And  Miss  Burney's  wretched- 
ness, which  calls  forth  our  sympathy,  was 
not  because  she  had  to  perform  the  duties 
of  waiting-maid,  but  because  to  a  gifted  and 
educated  woman  these  duties  were  uncon- 
genial;  and  congeniality  means  happiness; 
uncongeniality,  unhappiness. 


142  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER  XIV, 

From  the  sorrows  of  Miss  Burney  in  the 
v  palace — a  striking  contrast  with  the  menials 
described  in  our  own  country  homes— I 
will  turn  to  another  charming  place  on  the 
James  River — Powhatan  Seat,  a  mile  below 
Richmond,  which  had  descended  in  the 
Mayo  family  two  hundred  years. 

Here,  it  was  said,  the  Indian  chief  Pow- 
hatan had  lived,  and  here  was  shown  the 
veritable  stone  supposed  to  have  been  the 
one  upon  which  Captain  Smith's  head  was 
laid,  when  the  Indian  princess  Pocahontas 
rescued  him. 

This  historic  stone,  near  the  parlor  win- 
dow, was  only  an  ugly,  dark,  broad,  fiat 
stone,  but  imagination  pictured  ever  around 
it  the  Indian  group,  Smith's  head  upon  it, 
the  infuriated  chief  with  uplifted  club  in 
the  act  of  dealing  the  death-blow,  the  grief 
and  shriek  of  Pocahontas  as  she  threw  her- 
self   upon   Smith,  imploring   her  father   to 


^BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  M3 

spare  him, — a  piercing  cry  to  have  penetra- 
ted the  heart  of  the  savage  chief  ! 

Looking  out  from  the  parlor  window  and 
imagining  this  savage  scene,  how  strange  a 
contrast  met  the  eye  within !  Around  the 
fireside  assembled  the  loveliest  family  group, 
where  kindness  and  affection  beamed  in 
every  eye,  and  father,  mother,  brothers,  and 
sisters  were  linked  together  by  tenderest 
devotion  and  sympathy. 

If  natural  scenery  reflects  itself  upon  the 
heart,  no  wonder  a  "  holy  calm"  rested  upon 
this  family,  for  far  down  the  river  the  pros- 
pect was  peace  and  tranquillity  ;  and  many 
an  evening  in  the  summer-house  on  the  river 
bank  we  drank  in  the  beauty  of  soft  blue 
skies,  green  isles,  and  white  sails  floating  in 
the  distance. 

Many  in  Richmond  remember  the  delight- 
ful weddings  and  parties  at  Powhatan  Seat, 
where  assembled  the  elite  from  Richmond, 
with  an  innumerable  throng  of  cousins, 
aunts,  and  uncles  from  Orange  and  Culpeper 
counties. 

On  these  occasions  the  house  was  illumi- 
nated by  wax  lights  issuing  from  bou- 
quets of  magnolia  leaves  placed  around  the 


144  *A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

walls  near  the  ceiling,  and  looking  prettier 
than  any  glass  chandelier. 

We,  from  a  distance,  generally  stayed  a 
week  after  the  wedding,  becoming,  as  it 
were,  a  part  of  the  family  circle  ;  and  the 
bride  did  not  rush  off  on  a  tour  as  is  the 
fashion  nowadays,  but  remained  quietly  at 
home,  enjoying  the  society  of  her  family 
and  friends. 

One  feature  I  have  omitted  in  describ- 
ing our  weddings  and  parties — invariably 
a  part  of  the  picture — was  the  sea  of  black 
faces  surrounding  the  doors  and  windows 
to  look  on  the  dancing,  hear  the  music, 
and  afterward  get  a  good  share  of  the 
supper. 

Tourists  often  went  to  walk  around  the 
beautiful  grounds  at  Powhatan — so  neatly 
kept  with  sea-shells  around  the  flowers,  and 
pleasant  seats  under  the  lindens  and  magno- 
lias— and  to  see  the  historic  stone ;  but  I 
often  thought  they  knew  not  what  was 
missed  in  not  knowing,  as  we  did,  the 
lovely  family  within. 

But,  for  us,  those  rare,  beautiful  days  at 
Powhatan  are  gone  forever  ;  for  since  the 
war   the   property  has  passed   into  strange 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%.  145 

hands,  and  the  family  who  once  owned  it 
will  own  it  no  more. 

During  the  late  war  heavy  guns  were 
placed  in  the  family  burying-ground  on  this 
plantation — a  point  commanding  the  river  ; 
and  here  was  interred  the  child  of  a  dis- 
tinguished general*  in  the  Northern  army — 
a  Virginian,  formerly  in  the  United  States 
army — who  had  married  a  member  of  the 
Powhatan  family.  He  was  expected  to 
make  an  attack  upon  Richmond,  and  over 
his  child's  grave  was  placed  a  gun  to  fire 
upon  him.  Such  are  the  unnatural  incidents 
of  civil  war. 

About  two  miles  from  Powhatan  Seat  was 
another  beautiful  old  place — Mount  Erin — 
the  plantation  formerly  of  a  family  all  of 
whom,  except  two  sisters,  had  died.  The 
estate,  ^becoming  involved,  had  to  be  sold, 
which  so  grieved  and  distressed  these  sisters 
that  they  passed  hours  weeping  if  acciden- 
tally the  name  of  their  old  home  was  men- 
tioned in  their  presence. 

Once  when  we  were  at  Powhatan,  and 
these  ladies  were  among  the  guests,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Powhatan  family  ordered  the 
carriage,  and  took  my  sister  and  myself  to 
*  General  Scott, 


146  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

Mount  Erin,  telling  us  to  keep  it  a  secret 
when  we  returned,  for  "  the  sisters,''  said 
she,  "  would  neither  eat  nor  sleep  if  reminded 
of  their  old  home." 

A  pleasant  drive  brought  us  to  Mount 
Erin,  and  when  we  saw  the  box  hedges, 
gravel  walks,  and  linden  trees  we  were  no 
longer  surprised  at  the  grief  of  the  sisters 
whose  hearts  entwined  around  their  old 
home.  The  house  was  in  charge  of  an  old 
negro  woman — the  purchaser  not  having 
moved  in — who  showed  us  over  the  grounds ; 
and  every  shrub  and  flower  seemed  to  speak 
of  days  gone  by.  Even  the  ivy  on  the  old 
bricks  looked  gloomy,  as  if  mourning  the 
light,  mirth,  and  song  departed  from  the 
house  forever ;  and  the  walks  gave  back  a 
deadened  echo,  as  if  they  wished  not  to  be 
disturbed  by  stranger  tread.  All  seemed  in 
a  reverie,  dreaming  a  long  sweet  dream  of 
the  past,  and  entering  into  the  grief  of  the 
sisters,  who  lived  afterward  for  many  years 
in  a  pleasant  home  on  a  pleasant  street  in 
Richmond,  with  warm  friends  to  serve  them, 
yet  their  tears  never  ceased  to  flow  at  the 
mention  of  Mount  Erin. 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%  147 

One  more  plantation  picture,  and  enough 
will  have  been  described  to  show  the 
character  of  the  homes  and  people  on  our 
plantations. 

The  last  place  visited  by  my  sister  and 
myself  before  the  war  of  1861  was  Elk- 
wood,  a  fine  estate  in  Culpeper  County, 
four  miles  from  the  railroad  station,  the  resi- 
dence of  Richard  Cunningham. 

It  was  the  last  of  June.  The  country 
was  a  scene  of  enchantment  as  the  carriage 
rolled  us  through  dark,  cool  forests,  green 
meadows,  fields  of  waving  grain  ;  out  of  the 
forests  into  acres  of  broad-leaved  corn  ; 
across  pebble-bottomed  streams,  and  along 
the  margin  of  the  Rapidan,  which  flowed  at 
the  base  of  the  hill  leading  up  to  the  house. 

The  house  was  square  and  white,  and  the 
blinds  green  as  the  grass  lawn  and  trees  in 
the  yard.  Inside  the  house  the  polished 
"dry-rubbed"  floors,  clean  and  cool,  re- 
freshed one  on  entering  like  a  glass  of  iced 
lemonade  on  a  midsummer's  day.  The  old- 
fashioned  furniture  against  the  walls  looked 
as  if  it  thought  too  much  of  itself  to  be  set 
about  promiscuously  over  the  floor,  like 
modern  fauteuils   and    divans. 


148  Jl  Gl%VS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

About  everything  was  an  air  of  dignity 
and  repose  corresponding  with  the  manners 
and  appearance  of  the  proprietors,  who 
were  called  "  Uncle  Dick "  and  "  Aunt 
Jenny  " — the  a  in  "  Aunt "  pronounced  very 
broad. 

Aunt  Jenny  and  Uncle  Dick  had  no  chil- 
dren, but  took  care  of  numerous  nieces 
and  nephews,  kept  their  house  filled  to 
overflowing  with  friends,  relatives,  and 
strangers,  and  were  revered  and  beloved  by 
all.  They  had  no  pleasure  so  great  as  tak- 
ing care  of  other  people.  They  lived  for 
other  people,  and  made  everybody  com- 
fortable and  happy  around  them.  From 
the  time  Uncle  Dick  had  prayers  in  the 
morning  until  family  prayers  at  bedtime 
they  were  busy  bestowing  some  kindness. 

Uncle  Dick's  character  and  manners  were 
of  a  type  so  high  that  one  felt  elevated 
in  his  presence  ;  and  a  desire  to  reach  his 
standard  animated  those  who  knew  him. 
His  precept  and  example  were  such  that  all 
who  followed  them  might  arrive  at  the 
highest  perfection  of  Christian  character. 

Uncle  Dick  had  requested  Aunt  Jenny, 
when  they  were  married,  forty  years  before, 


TEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  H9 

to  have  on  his  table  every  day  dinner  enough 
for  six  more  persons  than  were  already  in 
the  house,  "  in  case,"  he  said,  "  he  should 
meet  friends  or  acquaintances,  while  riding 
over  his  plantation  or  in  the  neighborhood, 
whom  he  wished  to  ask  home  with  him  to 
dinner."  This  having  been  always  a  rule, 
Aunt  Jenny  never  sat  at  her  table  without 
dinner  enough  for  six  more, — and  hers  were 
no  commonplace  dinners ;  no  hasty-pud- 
dings, no  saleratus  bread,  no  soda  cakes,  no 
frozen-starch  ice-cream,  no  modern  short- 
hand recipes,  but  genuine  old  Virginia  cook- 
ing. And  all  who  want  to  know  what  that 
was  can  find  out  all  about  it  in  Aunt  Jenny's 
book  of  copied  recipes — if  it  is  extant — or 
in  that  of  Mrs.  Harrison,  of  Brandon.  But 
as  neither  of  these  books  may  ever  be  known 
to  the  public,  their  "sum  and  substance" 
may  be  given  in  a  few  words : 

"  Have  no  shams.  Procure  an  abundance 
of  the  freshest,  richest  real  cream,  milk, 
eggs,  butter,  lard,  best  old  Madeira  wine,  all 
the  way  from  Madeira,  and  never  use  a 
particle  of  soda  or  saleratus  about  anything 
or  under  any  pressure." 

These  were  the  ingredients  Aunt  Jenny 


T5°  *A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

used,  for  Uncle  Dick  had  rare  old  wine  in 
his  cellar  which  he  had  brought  from 
Europe  thirty  years  before,  and  every  day 
was  a  feast-day  at  Elkwood.  And  the  wed- 
ding breakfasts  Aunt  Jenny  used  to  get  up 
when  one  of  her  nieces  married  at  her 
house — as  they  sometimes  did — were  be- 
yond description. 

While  at  Elkwood,  observing  every  day 
that  the  carriage  went  to  the  depot  empty 
and  returned  empty,  we  inquired  the  reason, 
and  were  informed  that  Uncle  Dick,  ever 
since  the  cars  had  been  passing  near  his 
plantation,  ordered  his  coachman  to  have 
the  carriage  every  day  at  the  station,  "  in 
case  some  of  his  friends  might  be  on  the 
train,  and  might  like  to  stop  and  see 
him  " ! 

Another  hospitable  rule  in  Uncle  Dick's 
house  was  that  company  must  never  be  kept 
waiting  in  his  parlor,  and  so  anxious  was 
his  young  niece  to  meet  his  approbation  in 
this  as  in  every  particular  that  she  had 
a  habit  of  dressing  herself  carefully,  arrang- 
ing her  hair  beautifully — it  was  in  the  days, 
too,  when  smooth  hair  was  fashionable — 
before  lying  down  for  the  afternoon  siesta, 


*BBFOT{E  THE  WA%  15  * 

"  in  case,"  she  said,  "  someone  might  call, 
and  Uncle  Dick  had  a  horror  of  visitors 
waiting."  This  process  of  reposing  in  a 
fresh  muslin  dress  and  fashionably  arranged 
hair  required  a  particular  and  uncomfortable 
position,  which  she  seemed  not  to  mind,  but 
dozed  in  the  most  precise  manner  without 
rumpling  her  hair  or  her  dress. 

Elkwood  was  a  favorite  place  of  resort 
for  Episcopal  ministers,  whom  Aunt  Jenny 
and  Uncle  Dick  loved  to  entertain.  And 
here  we  met  the  Rev.  Philip  Slaughter,  the 
learned  divine,  eloquent  preacher,  and  charm- 
ing companion.  He  had  just  returned  from 
a  visit  to  England,  where  he  had  been  enter- 
tained in  palaces.  Telling  us  the  incidents 
of  his  visit,  "  I  was  much  embarrassed  at 
first,"  said  he,  "  at  the  thought  of  attending 
a  dinner-party  given  in  a  palace  to  me,  a 
simple  Virginian,  but,  on  being  announced 
at  the  drawing-room  door  and  entering  the 
company,  I  felt  at  once  at  ease,  for  they 
were  all  ladies  and  gentlemen,  such  as  I  had 
known  at  home — polite,  pleasant,  and  with- 
out pretense." 

This  gentleman's  conversational  powers 
were  not  only  bright  and  delightful,  but  also 


15 2  *A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

the  means  of  turning  many  to  righteousness 
— for  religion  was  one  of  his  chief  themes. 

A  proof  of  his  genius  and  eloquence  was 
given  in  the  beautiful  poem  recited — with- 
out ever  having  been  written — at  the  cen- 
tennial anniversary  of  old  Christ  Church  in 
Alexandria.  This  was  the  church  in  which 
General  Washington  and  his  family  had 
worshiped,  and  around  it  clustered  many 
memories.  Mr.  Slaughter,  with  several 
others,  had  been  invited  to  make  an  address 
on  the  occasion,  and  one  night,  while  think- 
ing about  it,  an  exquisite  poem  passed 
through  his  mind,  picturing  scene  after  scene 
in  the  old  church — General  Washington,  with 
his  head  bowed  in  silent  prayer ;  infants  at 
the  baptismal  font ;  young  men  and  maidens 
in  bridal  array  at  the  altar  ;  and  funeral  trains 
passing  through  the  open  gate. 

On  the  night  of  the  celebration,  when  his 
turn  came,  finding  the  hour  too  late  and  the 
audience  too  sleepy  for  his  prose  address, 
he  suddenly  determined  to  "dash  off"  the 
poem,  every  word  of  which  came  back  to 
him,  although  he  had  never  written  it.  The 
audience  roused  up  electrified,  and,  as  the 
recitation      proceeded,      their      enthusiasm 


*BEFO%E  THE  WA%  *53 

reached  the  highest  pitch.  Never  had 
there  been  such  a  sensation  in  the  old 
church  before.  And,  next  morning,  the 
house  at  which  he  was  stopping  was  be- 
sieged by  reporters  begging  "  copies  "  and 
offering  good  prices,  but  the  poem  remains 
unwritten  to  this  day. 

Elkwood,  like  many  other  old  homes, 
was  burned  by  the  Northern  army  in  1862, 
and  not  a  tree  or  flower  remains  to  mark  the 
spot  that  for  so  many  years  was  the  abode 
of  hospitality  and  good  cheer. 

In  connection  with  Culpeper  County,  it  is 
due  here  to  state  that  it  excelled  all  others 
in  ancient  and  dilapidated  buggies  and 
carriages,  seeming  to  be  a  regular  infirmary 
for  all  the  disabled  vehicles  of  the  Old 
Dominion.  Here  their  age  and  infirmities 
received  every  care  and  consideration,  being 
propped  up,  tied  up,  and  bandaged  up  in 
every  conceivable  manner ;  and,  strangest  of 
all,  rarely  depositing  their  occupants  in  the 
road,  which  was  prevented  by  cautious  old 
gentlemen  riding  alongside,  who,  watching 
for  and  discovering  the  weakest  points, 
stopped  and  securely  tied  up  fractured  parts 
with  bits   of   twine,   rope,  or  chain  always 


154  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

carried  in  buggy-  or  carriage-boxes  for  that 
purpose.  These  surgical  operations,  although 
not  ornamental,  strengthened  and  sustained 
these  venerable  vehicles,  and  produced  a 
miraculous  longevity. 

Many  more  sketches  might  be  given  of 
pleasant  country  homes — themes  worthy  a 
better  pen  than  mine  ;  for  Brandon,  Westover, 
Shirley,  Carter  Hall,  Lauderdale,  Vaucluse, 
and  others,  linger  in  the  memory  of  hun- 
dreds who  once  knew  and  loved  them — 
especially  Vaucluse,  which,  although  far 
removed  from  railroads,  stage-coaches,  and 
public  conveyances,  was  overflowing  with 
company  throughout  the  year.  For  the 
Vaucluse  girls  were  so  bright,  so  fascinating, 
and  so  bewitchingly  pretty,  that  they  at- 
tracted a  concourse  of  visitors,  and  were  sure 
to  be  belles  wherever  they  went. 

And  many  remember  the  owner  of  Vau- 
cluse, Mr.  Blair  Dabney,  that  pure-hearted 
Christian  and  cultivated  gentleman  who, 
late  in  life,  devoted  himself  to  the  Episcopal 
ministry,  and  labored  faithfully  in  the  Mas- 
ter's cause,  preaching  in  country  churches, 
"  without  money  and  without  price."  Surely 
his  reward  is  in  heaven. 


'BEFOTiE   THE  WA%  155 

Besides  these  well-ordered  establishments, 
there  were  some  others  owned  by  inactive 
men,  who  smoked  their  pipes,  read  their 
books,  left  everything  very  much  to  the 
management  of  their  negroes,  and  seemed 
content  to  let  things  tumble  down  around 
them. 

One  of  these  places  we  used  to  call 
"  Topsy-Turvy  Castle,"  and  another  "  Hap- 
hazard." 

At  such  places  the  negro  quarters — instead 
of  being  neat  rows  of  white  cabins  in  the 
rear  of  the  house,  as  on  other  plantations — 
occupied  a  conspicuous  place  near  the  front, 
and  consisted  of  a  solid,  long,  ugly  brick 
structure,  with  swarms  of  negroes  around 
the  windows  and  doors,  appearing  to  have 
nothing  in  the  world  to  do  and  never  to  have 
done  anything. 

Everything  had  a  "  shackling,"  lazy  ap- 
pearance. The  master  was  always,  it  ap- 
peared to  us,  reading  a  newspaper  in  the 
front  porch,  and  never  observing  anything 
that  was  going  on.  The  house  was  so  full 
of  idle  negroes  standing  about  the  halls  and 
stairways  that  one  could  scarcely  make  one's 
way  up  or  down  stairs.     Everything  needed 


I56  <A  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

repair,  from  the  bed  upon  which  you  slept 
to  the  family  coach  which  took  you  to 
church. 

Few  of  the  chairs  had  all  their  rounds  and 
legs,  and,  when  completely  disabled,  were 
sent  to  the  garret,  where  they  accumulated 
in  great  numbers,  and  remained  until  press- 
ing necessity  induced  the  master  to  raise  his 
eyes  from  his  paper  long  enough  to  order 
"  Dick  "  to  "  take  the  four-horse  wagon  and 
carry  the  chairs  to  be  mended." 

A  multitude  of  kinsfolk  and  acquaint- 
ance usually  congregated  here.  And  at 
one  place,  in  order  to  accommodate  so  many, 
there  were  four  beds  in  a  chamber.  These 
high  bedsteads  presented  a  remarkable  ap- 
pearance,— the  head  of  one  going  into  the 
side  of  another,  the  foot  of  one  into  the 
head  of  another,  and  so  on,  looking  as  if 
they  had  never  been  "  placed,"  but  as  if 
their  curious  juxtaposition  had  been  the 
result  of  an  earthquake. 

One  of  these  houses  is  said  to  have  been 
greatly  improved  in  appearance  during  the 
war  by  the  passage  of  a  cannon-ball  through 
the  upper  story,  where  a  window  had  been 
needed  for  many  years. 


"BEFORE  THE  WAT{<  157 

But  the  owners  of  these  places  were  so 
genuinely  good,  one  could  not  complain  of 
them,  even  for  such  carelessness.  For 
everybody  was  welcome  to  everything. 
You  might  stop  the  plows  if  you  wanted 
a  horse,  or  take  the  carriage  and  drive  for  a 
week's  journey,  and,  in  short,  impose  upon 
these  good  people  in  every  conceivable  way. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  this  topsy-turvy  manage- 
ment— a  strange  fact  connected  with  such 
places — they  invariably  had  good  light- 
bread,  good  mutton,  and  the  usual  abun- 
dance   on   their   tables. 

We  suppose  it  must  have  been  a  recollec- 
tion of  such  plantations  which  induced  the 
negro  to  exclaim,  on  hearing  another  sing 
"  Ole  Virginny  Nubber  Tire  "  :  "  Umph  !  ole 
Virginny  nubber  tire,  kase  she  nubber  done 
nuthin'  fur  to  furtigue  herself !  " 


ISS  <A  Gl%VS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Confining  these  reminiscences  strictly  to 
plantation  life,  no  mention  has  been  made 
of  the  families  we  knew  and  visited  in  some 
of  our  cities,  whose  kindness  to  their  slaves 
was  unmistakable,  and  who,  owning  only  a 
small  number,  could  better  afford  to  indulge 
them. 

At  one  of  these  houses  this  indulgence 
was  such  that  the  white  family  were  very 
much  under  the  control  of  their  servants. 

The  owner  of  this  house,  Charles  Mosby, 
an  eminent  lawyer,  was  a  man  of  taste  and 
learning,  whose  legal  ability  attracted  many 
admirers,  and  whose  refinement,  culture,  and 
generous  nature  won  enthusiastic  friends. 

Although  considered  the  owner  of  his 
house,  it  was  a  mistake,  if  ownership  means 
the  right  to  govern  one's  own  property ; 
for  beyond  his  law-papers,  library,  and  the 
privilege  of  paying  all  the  bills,  this  gentle- 
man had  no   "  rights "  there    whatever,  his 


'BEFOTiE  THE  IV A%  159 

house,  kitchen,  and  premises  being  under 
the  entire  command  of  "  Aunt  Fanny,"  the 
cook,  a  huge  mulatto  woman,  whose  word 
was  law,  and  whose  voice  thundered  abuse 
if  any  dared  to  disobey  her. 

The  master,  mistress,  family,  and  visitors 
all  stood  in  awe  of  Aunt  Fanny,  and  yet 
could  not  do  without  her,  for  she  made 
unapproachable  light-bread  and  conducted 
the  affairs  of  the  place  with  distinguished 
ability. 

Her  own  house  was  in  the  yard,  and  had 
been  built  especially  for  her  convenience. 
Her  furniture  was  polished  mahogany,  and 
she  kept  most  delicious  preserves,  pickles, 
and  sweetmeats  of  her  own  manufacture, 
with  which  to  regale  her  friends  and  favor- 
ites. As  we  came  under  that  head,  we 
were  often  treated  when  we  went  in  to  see 
her  after  her  day's  work  was  over,  or  on 
Sundays. 

Although  she  "  raved  and  stormed  "  con- 
siderably— which  she  told  us  she  was 
"  obliged  to  do,  honey,  to  keep  things 
straight" — she  had  the  tenderest  regard  for 
her  master  and  mistress,  and  often  said  : 
"If   it  warn 't.  for  me,  they'd  have   nuthin' 


160  jj  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

in  the  world,  and  things  here  would  go  to 
destruction." 

So  Aunt  Fanny  "kept  up  this  family,"  as 
she  said,  for  many  years,  and  many  amusing 
incidents  might  be  related  of  her. 

On  one  occasion  her  master,  after  a  long 
and  exciting  political  contest,  was  elected  to 
the  legislature.  Before  all  the  precincts 
had  been  heard  from,  believing  himself  de- 
feated, he  retired  to  rest,  and,  being  natu- 
rally feeble,  was  quite  worn  out.  But  at 
midnight  a  great  cry  arose  at  his  gate,  where 
a  multitude  assembled,  screaming  and  hur- 
rahing. At  first  he  was  uncertain  whether 
they  were  friends  to  congratulate  him  on  his 
victory  or  the  opposite  party  to  hang  him, 
as  they  had  threatened,  for  voting  an  appro- 
priation to  the  Danville  Railroad.  It  soon 
appeared  they  had  come  to  congratulate 
him,  when  great  excitement  prevailed,  loud 
cheers,  and  cries  for  a  speech.  The  doors 
were  opened  and  the  crowd  rushed  in.  The 
hero  soon  appeared  and  delivered  one  of  his 
graceful  and  satisfactory  speeches. 

Still  the  crowd  remained  cheering  and 
storming  about  the  house,  until  Aunt 
Fanny,  who   had    made   her   appearance  in 


■  AUNT  FANNY    '  SPERSED   DAT  CROWD.'  " — Page-  :5i 


'BEFOTiE  THE  W A%.  161 

full  dress,  considering  the  excitement  had 
been  kept  up  long  enough,  and  that  the 
master's  health  was  too  delicate  for  any  fur- 
ther demonstration,  determined  to  disperse 
them.  Rising  to  her  full  height,  waving  her 
hand,  and  speaking  majestically,  she  said : 
"  Gentlemen,  Mars'  Charles  is  a  feeble  pus- 
son,  an'  it's  time  for  him  to  take  his  res'. 
He's  been  kep'  'wake  long  enough  now, 
an'  it's  time  for  me  to  close  up  dese 
doors ! " 

With  this  the  crowd  dispersed,  and  Aunt 
Fanny  remained  mistress  of  the  situation, 
declaring  that  if  she  "  hadn't  come  forward 
an'  'spersed  dat  crowd,  Mars'  Charles  would 
have  been  a  dead  man  befo'  mornin'." 

Aunt  Fanny  kept  herself  liberally  sup- 
plied with  pocket-money,  one  of  her  chief 
sources  of  revenue  being  soap,  which  she 
made  in  large  quantities  and  sold  at  high 
prices;  especially  what  she  called  her  "but- 
ter soap,"  which  was  in  great  demand,  and 
which  was  made  from  all  the  butter  which 
she  did  not  consider  fresh  enough  for  the 
delicate  appetites  of  her  mistress  and  mas- 
ter. She  appropriated  one  of  the  largest 
basement  rooms,  had  it  shelved,  and  filled  it 


1 62  ji  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

with  soap.  In  order  to  carry  on  business  so 
extensively,  huge  logs  were  kept  blazing  on 
the  kitchen  hearth  under  the  soap-pot  day 
and  night.  During  the  war,  wood  becoming 
scarce  and  expensive,  "  Mars'  Charles  "  found 
that  it  drained  his  purse  to  keep  the  kitchen 
fire  supplied. 

Thinking  the  matter  over  one  day  in  his 
library,  and  concluding  it  would  greatly 
lessen  his  expenses  if  Aunt  Fanny  could  be 
prevailed  upon  to  discontinue  her  soap  trade, 
he  sent  for  her,  and  said  very  mildly : 

"  Fanny,  I  have  a  proposition  to  make 
you." 

"  What  is  it,  Mars'  Charles  ?  " 

"  Well,  Fanny,  as  my  expenses  are  very 
heavy  now,  if  you  will  give  up  your  soap- 
boiling  for  this  year,  I  will  agree  to  pay  you 
fifty  dollars." 

With  arms  akimbo,  and  looking  at  him 
with  astonishment  but  with  firmness  in  her 
eye,  she  replied  :  "  Couldn't  possibly  do  it, 
Mars'  Charles ;  because  soap,  sir,  soap's  my 
main-tain-ance  !  " 

With  this  she  strode  majestically  out  of 
the  room.  "  Mars'  Charles  "  said  no  more, 
but  continued   paying    fabulous    sums    for 


rBEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  163 

wood,  while  Aunt  Fanny  continued  boil- 
ing her   soap. 

This  woman  not  only  ordered  but  kept 
all  the  family  supplies,  her  mistress  having 
no  disposition  to  keep  the  keys  or  in  any 
way  interfere  with  her. 

But  at  last  her  giant  strength  gave  way, 
and  she  sickened  and  died.  Having  no 
children,  she  left  her  property  to  one  of  her 
fellow-servants. 

Several  days  before  her  death  we  were 
sitting  with  her  mistress  and  master  in  a 
room  overlooking  her  house.  Her  room  was 
crowded  with  negroes  who  had  come  to  per- 
form their  religious  rites  around  the  death- 
bed. Joining  hands,  they  performed  a 
savage  dance,  shouting  wildly  around  her 
bed.  This  was  horrible  to  hear  and  see, 
especially  as  in  this  family  every  effort  had 
been  made  to  instruct  their  negro  depend- 
ents in  the  truths  of  religion ;  and  one 
member  of  the  family,  who  spent  the 
greater  part  of  her  life  in  prayer,  had  for 
years  prayed  for  Aunt  Fanny  and  tried 
to  instruct  her  in  the  true  faith.  But  al- 
though an  intelligent  woman,  she  seemed  to 
cling  to  the  superstitions  of  her  race. 


1 64  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VI'I{GINU 

After  the  savage  dance  and  rites  were 
over,  and  while  we  sat  talking  about  it,  a 
gentleman — the  friend  and  minister  of  the 
family — came  in.  We  described  to  him 
what  we  had  just  witnessed,  and  he  deplored 
it  bitterly  with  us,  saying  he  had  read  and 
prayed  with  Aunt  Fanny  and  tried  to 
make  her  see  the  truth  in  Jesus.  He  then 
marked  some  passages  in  the  Bible,  and 
asked  me  to  go  and  read  them  to  her.  I 
went,  and  said  to  her  :  "  Aunt  Fanny,  here 
are  some  verses  Mr.  Mitchell  has  marked  for 
me  to  read  to  you,  and  he  hopes  you  will 
pray  to  the  Saviour  as  he  taught  you." 
Then  said  I  :  "  We  are  afraid  the  noise  and 
dancing  have  made  you  worse." 

Speaking  feebly,  she  replied:  "  Honey, 
dat  kind  o'  'ligion  suit  us  black  folks  better 
'en  yo'  kind.  What  suit  Mars'  Charles' 
mind   karn't  suit   mine." 

And  thus  died  the  most  intelligent  of  her 
race — one  who  had  been  surrounded  by 
pious  persons  who  had  been  praying  for  her 
and  endeavoring  to  instruct  her.  She  had 
also  enjoyed  through  life  not  only  the  com- 
forts but  many  of  the  luxuries  of  earth, 
and  when  she  died  her  mistress  and  master 
lost  a  sincere  friend. 


'BEFORE  THE  IVAT{.  165 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

This  chapter  will  show  how  "  Virginia 
beat  biscuit  "  procured  for  a  man  a  home 
and  friends  in  Paris. 

One  morning  in  the  spring  of  185 — ,  a 
singular-looking  man  presented  himself  at 
our  house.  He  was  short  of  stature,  and 
enveloped  in  furs,  although  the  weather  was 
not  cold.  Everything  about  him  which 
could  be  gold,  was  gold,  and  so  we  called 
him  "  the  gold-tipped  man."  He  called  for 
my  mother,  and  when  she  went  into  the 
parlor,  he  said  to  her  : 

"  Madam,  I  have  been  stopping  several 
weeks  at  the  hotel  in  the  town  of  L., 
where  I  met  a  boy — Robert — who  tells  me 
he  belongs  to  you.  As  I  want  such  a  serv- 
ant, and  he  is  anxious  to  travel,  I  come,  at 
his  request,  to  ask  if  you  will  let  me  buy 
him  and  take  him  to  Europe.  I  will  pay 
any  price." 

"  I    could   not  think  of   it,"  she   replied. 


166  j{  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIT^GINIJ 

"  I  have  determined  never  to  sell  one  of  my 
servants." 

"  But,"  continued  the  man, "he  is  anxious 
to  go,  and  has  sent  me  to  beg  you." 

"  It  is  impossible,"  said  she,  "  for  he  is  a 
great  favorite  with  us,  and  the  only  child 
his  mother  has." 

Finding  her  determined,  the  man  took  his 
leave,  and  went  back  to  the  town,  twenty- 
five  miles  off;  but  returned  next  day  accom- 
panied by  Robert,  who  entreated  his  mother 
and  mistress  to  let  him  go. 

Said  my  mother  to  him :  "  Would  you 
leave  your  mother  and  go  with  a  stranger  to 
a  foreign  land  ?  " 

"  Yes,  madam.  I  love  my  mother,  an' 
you  an'  all  de  fambly — you  always  been  so 
good  to  me — but  I  want  travel,  an'  dis 
gent'man  say  he  give  me  plenty  o'  money  an' 
treat  me  good,  too." 

Still  she  refused.  But  the  boy's  mother, 
finally  yielding  to  his  entreaty,  consented, 
and  persuaded  her  mistress,  saying  :  "  If  he 
is  willing  to  leave  me,  and  so  anxious  to  go, 
I  will  give  him  up." 

Knowing  how  distressed  we  all  would  be 
at  parting  with  him,  he  went    off  without 


'BEFORE   THE  IV A%.  167 

coming  to  say  "  good-by,"  and  wrote  his 
mother  from  New  York  what  day  he  would 
sail  with  his  new  master  for  Europe. 

At  first  his  mother  received  from  him 
presents  and  letters,  telling  her  he  was  very 
much  delighted,  and  "  had  as  much  money 
as  he  knew  what  to  do  with."  But  after  a 
few  months  he  ceased  to  write,  and  we 
could  hear  nothing  from  him. 

At  length,  when  eighteen  months  had 
elapsed,  we  were  one  day  astonished  to  see 
him  return  home,  dressed  in  the  best  Parisian 
style.  We  were  rejoiced  to  see  him  again, 
and  his  own  joy  at  getting  back  cannot  be 
described.  He  ran  over  the  yard  and  house, 
examining  everything,  and  said  :  "  Mistess, 
I  aint  see  no  place  pretty  as  yours,  an'  no 
lady  look  to  me  like  you  in  all  de  finest 
places  I  bin  see  in  Europ',  an'  no  water  tas'e 
good  like  de  water  in  our  ole  well.  An'  I 
dream  'bout  you  all,  an'  'bout  ev'y  ole  chur 
an'  table  in  dis  house,  an'  wonder  ef  uvver 
I'd  see  'urn  ag'in." 

He  then  gave  us  a  sketch  of  his  life  since 
the  "  gold-tipped  man  "  had  become  his 
master.  Arrived  in  Paris,  his  master  and 
himself   took  lodgings,  and   a   teacher   was 


1 68  Jl  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

employed  to  come  every  day  and  instruct 
Robert  in  French.  His  master  kept  him 
well  supplied  with  money,  never  giving  him 
less  than  fifty  dollars  at  a  time.  His  duties 
were  light,  and  he  had  ample  time  to  study 
and  amuse  himself. 

After  enjoying  such  elegant  ease  for 
eight  or  nine  months  he  awoke  one  morn- 
ing and  found  himself  deserted  and  penni- 
less !  His  master  had  absconded  in  the 
night,  leaving  no  vestige  of  himself  except  a 
gold  dressing-case  and  a  few  toilet  articles 
of  gold,  which  were  seized  by  the  proprietor 
of  the  hotel  in  payment  of  his  bill. 

Poor  Robert,  without  money  and  without 
a  friend  in  this  great  city,  knew  not  where 
to  turn.  In  vain  he  wished  himself  back  in 
his  old  home. 

"  If  I  could  only  find  some  Virginian  to 
whom  I  could  appeal,"  said  he  to  himself. 
And  suddenly  it  occurred  to  him  that  the 
American  Minister,  Mr.  Mason,  was  a  Vir- 
ginian. When  he  remembered  this,  his 
heart  was  cheered,  and  he  lost  no  time  in 
finding    Mr.   Mason's   house. 

Presenting  himself  before  the  American 
Minister,  he  related  his  story,  which  was  not 


"BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  169 

at  first  believed.  "  For,"  said  Mr.  Mason, 
"  there  are  so  many  impostors  in  Paris  it  is 
impossible  to  believe  you." 

Robert  protested  he  had  been  a  slave  in 
Virginia,  had  been  deserted  by  his  owner 
in  Paris,  and  begged  Mr.  Mason  to  keep  him 
at  his  house,  and  take  care  of  him. 

Then  Mr.  M.  asked  many  questions  about 
people  and  places  in  Virginia,  all  of  which 
were  accurately  answered.  Finally  he  said: 
"  I  knew  well  the  Virginia  gentleman  who 
was,  you  say,  your  master.  What  was  the 
color  of  his  hair  ? "  This  was  also  satis- 
factorily answered,  and  Robert  began  to 
hope  he  was  believed,  when  Mr.  Mason  con- 
tinued : 

"  Now,  there  is  one  thing  which,  if  you 
can  do,  will  convince  me  you  came  from 
Virginia.  Go  in  my  kitchen  and  make  me 
some  old  Virginia  beat  biscuit,  and  I  will 
believe    everything  you  have  said  ! " 

"  I  think  I  kin,  sir,"  said  Robert,  and, 
going  into  the  kitchen,  rolled  up  his  sleeves, 
and  set  to  work. 

This  was  a  desperate  moment,  for  he  had 
never  made  a  biscuit  in  his  life,  although 
he   had   often    watched  the    proceeding   as 


17°  *A  Gl%VS  LIFE  IN  V1%G1NIA 

"  Black  Mammy,"  the  cook  at  home,  used 
to  beat,  roll,  and  manipulate  the  dough  on 
her  biscuit-box. 

"  If  I  only  could  make  them  look  like 
hers!"  thought  he,  as  he  beat,  and  rolled, 
and  worked,  and  finally  stuck  the  dough  all 
over  with  a  fork.  Then,  cutting  them  out 
and  putting  them  to  bake,  he  watched  them 
with  nervous  anxiety  until  they  resembled 
those  he  had  often  placed  on  the  table  at 
home. 

Astonished  and  delighted  with  his  success, 
he  carried  them  to  the  American  Minister, 
who  exclaimed :  "  Now  I  know  you  came 
from  old  Virginia  !  " 

Robert  was  immediately  installed  in  Mr. 
John  Y.  Mason's  house,  where  he  remained 
a  faithful  attendant  until  Mr.  Mason's 
death,  when  he  returned  with  the  family  to 
America. 

Arriving  at  New  York,  he  thought  it  im- 
possible to  get  along  by  himself,  and  deter- 
mined to  find  his  master.  For  this  purpose 
he  employed  a  policeman,  and  together  they 
succeeded  in  recovering  "the  lost  master," — 
this  being  a  singular  instance  of  a  "  slave 
in  pursuit  of  his  fugitive  master." 


"BEFORE  THE  IVAT^.  171 

The  "  gold-tipped  man  "  expressed  much 
pleasure  at  his  servant's  fidelity,  and,  hand- 
ing.him  a  large  sum  of  money,  desired  him 
to  return  to  Paris,  pay  his  bill,  bring  back 
his  gold  dressing-box  and  toilet  articles,  and, 
as  a  reward  for  his  fidelity,  take  as  much 
money  as  he  wished  and  travel  over  the 
Continent. 

Robert  obeyed  these  commands,  returned 
to  Paris,  paid  the  bills,  traveled  over  the 
chief  places  in  Europe,  and  then  came  again 
to  New  York.  Here  he  was  appalled  to 
learn  that  his  master  had  been  arrested  for 
forgery,  and  imprisoned  in  Philadelphia.  It 
was  ascertained  that  the  forger  was  an  Eng- 
lishman and  connected  with  an  underground 
forging  establishment  in  Paris.  Finding 
himself  about  to  be  detected  in  Paris,  he  fled 
to  New  York,  and,  other  forgeries  having 
been  discovered  in  Philadelphia,  he  had 
been  arrested. 

Robert  lost  no  time  in  reporting  himself 
at  the  prison,  and  was  grieved  to  find  his 
master  in  such  a  place. 

Determined  to  do  what  he  could  to  relieve 
the  man  who  had  been  a  good  friend  to 
him,  he  went  to  a  Philadelphia  lawyer,  and 


I72  <A  Gl%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

said  to  him  :  "  Sir,  the  man  who  is  in  prison 
bought  me  in  Virginia,  and  has  been  a  kind 
master  to  me ;  I  have  no  money,  but  if  you 
will  do  your  best  to  have  him  acquitted,  I 
will  return  to  the  South,  sell  myself,  and 
send   you    the    money." 

"  It  is  a  bargain,"  replied  the  lawyer. 
"  Send  me  the  money,  and  I  will  save  your 
master  from  the  penitentiary." 

Robert  returned  to  Baltimore,  sold  him- 
self to  a  Jew  in  that  city,  and  sent  the 
money  to  the  lawyer  in  Philadelphia.  After 
this  he  was  bought  by  a  distinguished 
Southern  Senator — afterward  a  general  in 
the  Southern  army  * — with  whom  he  re- 
mained, and  to  whom  he  rendered  valuable 
services  during  the  war. 

Other  instances  were  known  of  negroes 
who  preferred  being  sold  into  slavery  rather 
than  take  care  of  themselves.  There  were 
some  in  our  immediate  neighborhood  who, 
finding  themselves  emancipated  by  their 
master's  will,  begged  the  owners  of  neigh- 
boring plantations  to  buy  them,  saying  they 
preferred  having  "  white  people  to  take  care 

*  General  Robert  Toombs. 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WAT{.  173 

of  them."  On  the  Wheatly  plantation, 
not  far  from  us,  there  is  still  living  an  old 
negro  who  sold  himself  in  this  way,  and  can- 
not be  persuaded  now  to  accept  his  freedom. 
After  the  war,  when  all  the  negroes  were 
freed  by  the  Federal  government,  and  our 
people  were  too  much  impoverished  longer 
to  clothe  and  feed  them,  this  old  man  re- 
fused to  leave  the  plantation,  but  clung  to 
his  cabin,  although  his  wife  and  family 
moved  off  and  begged  him  to  accompany 
them. 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  I  nuvver  will  leave  dis 
plantation,  an'  go  off  to  starve  wid  free 
niggers." 

Not  even  when  his  wife  was  very  sick  and 
dying  could  he  be  persuaded  to  go  off  and 
stay  one  night  with  her.  He  had  long  been 
too  old  to  work,  but  his  former  owners  in- 
dulged him  by  giving  him  his  cabin,  and 
taking  care  of  him  through  all  the  poverty 
which  has  fallen  upon  our  land  since  the 
war. 

Many  of  us  remember  this  old  man,  Harri- 
son Mitchell,  who  was  an  unusual  character, 
high-toned  and  reliable.  His  father  was  an 
Indian  and  his  mother  a  ne^ress.     He  resem- 


174  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

bled  the  Indian,  with  straight  black  hair, 
brown  skin,  and  high  cheek-bones.  His 
great  pride  was  that  he  had  "  cum  out  de 
Patrick  Henry  estate  an  use  to  run  a  freight 
boat  wid  flour  down  de  Jeemes  Ruver  fum 
Lynchbu'g  to  Richmon'  long  fo'  dar  was  a 
sign  o'  town  at  Lynch's  Ferry."  But  his 
great  and  consuming  theme,  especially  after 
the  war,  was  the  impossibility  of  the  negroes 
taking  care  of  themselves  "bedout  no  white 
man,"  and  nothing  ever  reconciled  him  to 
his  own  freedom.  Taking  his  seat  in  our 
back  porch,  where  my  mother  usually  enter- 
tained him,  we  would  assemble  to  hear  him 
talk.  I  would  ask  :  "  Well,  Uncle  Harrison, 
what  do  you  think  of  freedom  now  after  ten 
years  ?" 

"  Lord,  mistess,  what  I  t'ink  o'  freedom  ? 
Why,  mistess,  dese  niggers  is  no  mo'  kakalate 
to  take  kur  o'  deyselves  dan  'possum.  An'  I 
tells  'em  so.  Kase  what  is  a  nigger  bedout 
white  man  ?  He  aint  nuthin',  an'  he  aint 
gwine  be  nuthin'  no  ways  dey  fix  it.  An' 
dey  aint  gwine  stay  free,  kase  de  Lord  nuvver 
'tends  'um  to  be  nuthin'  bedout  white  folks. 
Kase  ev'ybody  know  nigger  aint  got  no 
hade.     I  nuvver  want  no  nigger  be  takin'  kur 


<BEFOT{E  THE  WA%  175 

o'  me.  I  looks  to  my  white  folks  to  take  kur 
o'  me.  I  'lonks  to  Mars'  Robert  an'  aint 
gwine  lef  his  plantation  tell  I  die.  What 
right  Yankees  got  settin'  me  free,  an'  den 
karn't  take  kur  o'  me  ?  No  !  niggers  is  nig- 
gers, an'  gwine  be  niggers,  an'  white  folks 
got  to  take  kur  on  'em  tell  end  o'  screeation. 
An'  der  Lord  gwine  put  ev'y  single  one 
on  'em  back  in  slavery  jes'  as  sure  as  you 
born." 

True  to  his  word,  old  Harrison  refused  to 
wear  an  article  of  clothing  "  ef  de  white 
folks  didn't  give  it  to  him."  And  his  daugh- 
ter, wishing  to  give  him  a  blanket,  asked  her 
former  young  mistress  to  let  him  think  it 
was  from  her,  or  he  would  not  take  it. 

At  last  "  Mars'  Robert "  was  on  his  death- 
bed. Old  Harrison  went  in  to  see  him  for 
the  last  time. 

"  Mars'  Robert,"  said  he,  "  I  got  one 
reques'  to  make  fo'  you  die." 

"  What  is  it?"  asked  his  master. 

"  Mars'  Robert,  I  want  to  be  buried  right 
outside  de  gate  o'  de  garden  lot  where  you 
an'  Miss  Lucy  is  buried,  so  I  kin  see  you 
fus'  on  de  mornin'  o'  de  resurrection." 

"  Harrison,  you  shall  be  buried   inside  the 


176  Jl   Gl%US  LIFE  IN  V1\GMIA 

lot  with  us,"  replied  "  Mars'  Robert  "  dis- 
tinctly, and  a  lady  who  heard  it  told  me  she 
never  saw  such  radiant  happiness  as  the  old 
man's  face  expressed  when  these  words  fell 
on  his  ear. 


<BEFOTiE   THE   IV A%  177 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

O  BRIGHT-WINGED  peace !  long  didst 
thou  rest  o'er  the  homes  of  old  Virginia ; 
while  cheerful  wood  fires  blazed  on  hearth- 
stones in  parlor  and  cabin,  reflecting  con- 
tented faces  with  hearts  full  of  peace  and 
good  will  toward  men  !  No  thought  entered 
there  of  harm  to  others ;  no  fear  of  evil  to 
ourselves.  Whatsoever  things  were  honest, 
whatsoever  things  were  pure,  whatsoever 
things  were  gentle,  whatsoever  things  were 
of  good  report,  we  were  accustomed  to  hear 
around  these  parlor  firesides ;  and  often 
would    our   grandmothers   say : 

"  Children,  ours  is  a  blessed  country ! 
There  never  will  be  another  war !  The 
Indians  have  long  ago  been  driven  out,  and 
it  has  been  nearly  a  hundred  years  since  the 
English  yoke  was  broken  !  " 

The  history  of  our  country,  to  our  minds, 
was  contained  in  two  pictures  on  the  walls 
of  our  house :  "  The  Last  Battle  with  the 


178  <A  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

Indians,"  and  "  The  Surrender  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  at  Yorktown." 

No  enemies  within  or  without  our  borders, 
and  peace  established  among  us  forever ! 
Such  was  our  belief.  And  we  wondered 
that  men  should  get  together  and  talk  their 
dry  politics,  seeing  that  General  Washington 
and  Thomas  Jefferson — two  of  our  Virginia 
plantation  men — had  established  a  govern- 
ment to  last  as  long  as  the  earth,  and  which 
could  not  be  improved.  Yet  they  would 
talk,  these  politicians,  around  our  parlor  fire, 
where  often  our  patience  was  exhausted 
hearing  discussions,  in  which  we  could  not 
take  interest,  about  the  Protective  Tariff, 
the  Bankrupt  Law,  the  Distribution  of  Pub- 
lic Lands,  the  Resolutions  of  '98,  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise,  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
These  topics  seemed  to  afford  them  intense 
pleasure  and  satisfaction,  for,  as  the  "  sparks 
fly  upward,"  the  thoughts  of  men  turn  to 
politics. 

In  1859  we  nad  a  visit  from  two  old 
friends  of  our  family — a  distinguished 
Southern  Senator  and  the  Secretary  of 
War* — both  accustomed  to  swaying  multi- 

*  General  Toombs  and  General  Floyd. 


"BEFOXE  THE  IV A%  179 

tudes  by  the  power  of  their  eloquence — 
which  lost  none  of  its  force  and  charm  in 
our  little  home  circle.  We  listened  with 
admiration  as  they  discussed  the  political 
issues  of  the  day — no  longer  a  subject  unin- 
teresting or  unintelligible  to  us,  for  every 
word  was  of  vital  importance.  Their  theme 
was,  The  best  means  of  protecting  our  plan- 
tation Jwmes  and  firesides.  Even  the  small- 
est children  now  comprehended  the  greatest 
politicians. 

Now  came  the  full  flow  and  tide  of 
Southern  eloquence — real  soul-inspiring  elo- 
quence. 

Many  possessing  this  gift  were  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  us  at  that  time  ;  and  all 
dwelt  upon  one  theme — the  secession  of 
Virginia — with  glowing  words  from  hearts 
full  of  enthusiasm  ;  all  agreeing  it  was 
better  for  States,  as  well  as  individuals,  to 
separate  rather  than  quarrel  or  fight. 

But  there  was  one  * — our  oldest  and  best 
friend — who  differed  from  these  gentlemen  ; 
and  his  eloquence  was  gentle  and  effective. 
Unlike  his  friends,  whose  words,  earnest  and 
electric,  overwhelmed  all  around,  this  gentle- 
*  Charles  Mosby. 


180  JL  GI%L'S  LIFE  IN  VI%GINIA 

man's  power  was  in  his  composure  of  manner 
without  vehemence.  His  words  were  well 
selected  without  seeming  to  have  been 
studied  ;  each  sentence  was  short,  but  con- 
tained a  gem,  like  a  solitaire  diamond. 

For  several  months  this  gentleman  re- 
mained untouched  by  the  fiery  eloquence  of 
his  friends,  like  the  Hebrew  children  in  the 
burning  furnace.  Nothing  affected  him 
until  one  day  the  President  of  the  United 
States  demanded  by  telegraph  fifty  thousand 
Virginians  to  join  an  army  against  South 
Carolina.  And  then  this  gentleman  felt 
convinced  it  was  not  the  duty  of  Virginians 
to  join  an  army  against  their  friends. 

About  this  time  we  had  some  very 
interesting  letters  from  the  Hon.  Ed- 
ward Everett — who  had  been  for  several 
years  a  friend  and  agreeable  correspondent 
— giving  us  his  views  on  the  subject,  and 
very  soon  after  this  all  communication 
between  the  North  and  South  ceased,  ex- 
cept through  the  blockade,  for  four  long 
years. 

And  then  came  the  long  dark  days — the 
days  when  the  sun  seemed  to  shine  no 
more  ;  when  the  eyes  of  wives,  mothers,  and 


'BEFOTiE  THE  IV A%.  181 

sisters  were  heavy  with  weeping ;  when  men 
sat  up  late  in  the  night  studying  military 
tactics  ;  when  grief-burdened  hearts  turned 
to  God  in  prayer. 

The  intellectual  gladiators  who  had  dis- 
coursed eloquently  of  war  around  our  fire- 
side buckled  their  armor  on  and  went  forth 
to  battle. 

Band  after  band  of  brave-hearted,  bright- 
faced  youths  from  Southern  plantation 
homes  came  to  bleed  and  die  on  Virginia 
soil ;  and  for  four  long  years  old  Virginia 
was  one  great  camping-ground,  hospital,  and 
battlefield.  The  roar  of  cannon  and  the 
clash  of  arms  resounded  over  the  land.  The 
groans  of  the  wounded  and  dying  went  up 
from  hillside  and  valley.  The  hearts  of 
women  and  children  were  sad  and  care- 
worn. But  God,  to  whom  we  prayed,  pro- 
tected us  in  our  plantation  homes,  where  no 
white  men  or  even  boys  remained,  all  hav- 
ing gone  into  the  army.  Only  the  negro 
slaves  stayed  with  us,  and  these  were  en- 
couraged by  our  enemies  to  rise  and  slay 
us ;  but  God  in  his  mercy  willed  otherwise. 
Although  advised  to  burn  our  property  and 
incited  by  the  enemy  to  destroy  their  former 


1 82  Ji  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

owners,  these  negro  slaves  remained  faithful, 
manifesting  kindness,  and  in  many  instances 
protecting  the  white  families  and  plantations 
during  their  masters'  absence. 

Oh  !  the  long  terrible  nights  passed  by 
these  helpless  women  and  children,  the 
enemy  encamped  around  them,  the  clash  of 
swords  heard  against  the  doors  and  windows, 
the  report  of  guns  on  the  air  which  might 
be  sending  death  to  their  loved  ones ! 

But  why  try  to  describe  the  horrors  of 
such  nights  ?  Who  that  has  not  experienced 
them  can  know  how  we  felt  ?  Who  can 
imagine  the  heartsickness  when,  stealing  to 
an  upper  window  at  midnight,  we  watched 
the  fierce  flames  rising  from  some  neighbor- 
ing home,  expecting  our  own  to  be  destroyed 
by  the  enemy  before  daylight  in  the  same 
way  ? 

Such  pictures,  dark  and  fearful,  were  the 
only  ones  familiar  to  us  in  old  Virginia  those 
four  dreadful  years. 

At  last  the  end  came — the  end  which 
seemed  to  us  saddest  of  all.  But  God  know- 
eth  best.  Though  "  through  fiery  trials  "  he 
had  caused  us  to  pass,  he  had  not  forsaken 
us.     For  was  not  his  mercy  signally  shown 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%  183 

in  the  failure  of  the  enemy  to  incite  our 
negro  slaves  to  insurrection  during  the  war  ? 
Through  his  mercy  those  who  were  expected 
to  become  our  enemies  remained  our  friends. 
And  in  our  own  home,  surrounded  by  the 
enemy  those  terrible  nights,  our  only  guard 
was  a  faithful  negro  servant  who  slept  in  the 
house,  and  went  out  every  hour  to  see  if  we 
were  in  immediate  danger  ;  while  his  mother 
— the  kind  old  nurse — sat  all  night  in  a  rock- 
ing-chair in  our  room,  ready  to  help  us. 
Had  we  not,  then,  amid  all  our  sorrows, 
much  to  be  thankful  for  ? 

Among  such  scenes  one  of  the  last  pic- 
tures photographed  on  my  memory  was  that 
of  a  negro  boy  who  was  very  ill  with  typhoid 
fever  in  a  cabin  not  far  off,  and  who  became 
greatly  alarmed  when  a  brisk  firing,  across 
our  house,  commenced  between  the  con- 
tending armies.  His  first  impulse — as  it 
always  had  been  in  trouble — was  to  fly  to 
his  mistress  for  protection,  and,  jumping 
from  his  bed,  his  head  bandaged  with  a 
white  cloth,  and  looking  like  one  just  from 
the  grave,  he  passed  through  the  firing  as 
fast  as  he  could,  screaming :  "  O  mistess,  take 
kur  o'  me  !     Put  me  in  yo'  closet,  and  hide 


1 84  <4  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

me  from  de  Yankees !  "  He  fell  at  the  door 
exhausted.  My  mother  had  him  brought  in, 
and  a  bed  was  made  for  him  in  the  library. 
She  nursed  him  carefully,  but  he  died  in  a 
day  or  two  from  fright  and  exhaustion. 

Soon  after  this  came  the  surrender  at  Ap- 
pomattox, and  negro  slavery  ended  forever. 

All  was  ruin  around  us, — tobacco  factories 
burned  down,  sugar  and  cotton  plantations 
destroyed.  The  negroes  fled  from  these 
desolated  places,  crowded  together  in 
wretched  shanties  on  the  outskirts  of  towns 
and  villages,  and  found  themselves,  for  the 
first  time  in  their  lives,  without  enough  to 
eat,  and  with  no  class  of  people  particularly 
interested  about  their  food,  health,  or  com- 
fort. Rations  were  furnished  them  a  short 
time  by  the  United  States  government,  with 
promises  of  money  and  land  which  were 
never  fulfilled.  Impoverished  by  the  war, 
it  was  a  relief  to  us  no  longer  to  have  the 
responsibility  of  supporting  them.  This 
would,  indeed,  have  been  impossible  in  our 
starving  condition. 

Years  have  passed,  and  the  old  homes  have 
been  long  deserted  where  the  scenes  I  have 


•-BEFO%E  THE  WA%.  185 

attempted  to  describe  were  enacted.  The 
heads  of  the  families  lie  buried  in  the 
old  graveyards,  while  their  descendants  are 
scattered  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
always  holding  sacred  in  memory  the  dear 
old  homes  in  Virginia. 

The  descendants  of  the  negroes  here  por- 
trayed,— where  are  they  ?  It  would  take  a 
long  chapter,  indeed,  to  tell  of  them.  Many 
are  crowded  on  the  outskirts  of  the  towns 
and  villages  North  and  South,  in  wretched 
thriftlessness  and  squalor,  yet  content  and 
without  ambition  to  alter  their  condition. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  good  proportion  of 
the  race  seek  to  improve  their  opportunities 
in  schools  and  colleges,  provided  partly  by 
the  aid  of  Northern  friends,  but  principally 
from  taxes  paid  by  their  former  owners  in 
spite  of  the  impoverished  condition  of  the 
South. 

Many  have  acquired  independent  homes, 
with  the  laudable  purpose  of  becoming  use- 
ful and  respected  citizens.  The  majority, 
however,  are  best  pleased  with  itineracy. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  those  of  the 
latter  class  can  never  become  desirable 
domestics  in  a  well-ordered,  cleanly  house. 


1 36  ^  G1T{L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

And  those  whose  youth  has  been  passed  in 
schoolrooms,  with  no  training  in  the  habits 
of  refined  life,  have  not  acquired  sufficient 
education  to  avail  much  in  the  line  of  let- 
ters. Thus  the  problem  of  their  race  re- 
mains unsolved,  even  by  those  who  know 
it  most  intimately. 

In  the  matter  of  classical  education  the 
question  occurs :  Will  the  literature  of  the 
one  race  meet  the  requirements  of  the  other, 
or  the  heroes  and  heroines  of  one  be  accept- 
able to  the  other?  Has  not  God  given  each 
country  its  distinct  race  and  literature? 
The  history  of  every  country  occupied  by 
antagonistic  races  has  been  that  the  stronger 
has  dominated  or  exterminated  the  other. 

Thinking  of  the  superficial  education  at 
some  of  our  schools,  I  am  reminded  of  a 
colored  boy's  subject  for  a  composition. 

Not  long  since  a  "  colored  scholar,"  seven- 
teen years  old,  with  very  fair  intelligence, 
who  had  never  missed  a  day  at  the  public 
school,  was  asked  by  a  white  gentleman  who 
was  much  interested  in  the  boy,  and  who 
often  took  the  trouble  to  explain  to  him 
words  in  common  use,  the  meaning  of  which 
the  boy  was  wholly  ignorant, — 


'BEFORE  THE  WA%  187 

"  Peter,  what  lessons  have  you  to-night  ?  " 
"  Well,  sir,  I  got  a  composition  to  write 
to-night." 

"  A  composition  ?     What's  your  subject  ?  " 
"  Dey  tell  me,  sir,  to  write  a  composition 
on  de  administration  o'  Mr.  Pierce." 

"  Administration  of  Mr.  Pierce  !  "  ex- 
claimed the  gentleman,  himself  an  eminent 
journalist  and  statesman.  "  And  what  could 
you  know  about  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Pierce  ?  Did  you  ever  hear  of  Mr.  Pierce  ?  " 
"  No,  sir,  I  nuvver  has." 

The  tie  which  once  bound  the  two  races 
together  is  broken  forever,  and  entire  separa- 
tion in  churches  and  schools  prevents  mutual 
interest  or  intercourse. 

Our  church  schools  are  doing  much  to 
elevate  and  improve  the  negroes,  and  we 
have  to  thank  many  kind,  warm  friends  in 
the  North  for  timely  aid  in  missionary  boxes, 
books,  and  Bibles  to  carry  on  the  colored 
Sunday-school  work  in  which  many  Southern 
people  are  deeply  interested,  without  the 
means  of  conducting  them  as  they  wish. 

The  negroes  still  have  a  strange  belief  in 
what    they    call   "  tricking,"   and    often    the 


1 88  jl  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

most  intelligent,  when  sick,  will  say  they 
have  been  "  tricked,"  for  which  they  have  a 
regular  treatment  and  "  trick  doctors  "  among 
themselves.  This  "tricking"  we  cannot 
explain,  and  only  know  that  when  one 
negro  became  angry  with  another  he  would 
bury  in  front  of  his  enemy's  cabin  door  a 
bottle  filled  with  pieces  of  snakes,  spiders, 
bits  of  tadpole,  and  other  curious  substances  ; 
and  the  party  expecting  to  be  "  tricked  " 
would  hang  up  an  old  horseshoe  outside  of 
his  door  to  ward  off  the  "  evil  spirits." 

Since  alienated  from  their  former  owners 
they  are,  as  a  general  thing,  more  idle  and 
improvident;  and,  unfortunately,  the  tend- 
ency of  their  political  teaching  has  been  to 
make  them  antagonistic  to  the  better  class 
of  white  people,  which  renders  it  difficult  for 
them  to  be  properly  instructed.  That  such 
animosity  should  exist  toward  those  who 
could  best  understand  and  help  them  is  to 
be  deplored.  For  the  true  negro  character 
cannot  be  fully  comprehended  or  described 
but  by  those  who,  like  ourselves,  have 
always   lived   with    them. 

At  present  their  lives  are  devoted  to 
a   religious    excitement    which    demoralizes 


<BEFOTiE  THE  IV A%  189 

them,  there  seeming  to  be  no  connection 
between  their  religion  and  morals.  In  one 
of  their  Sabbath  schools  is  a  teacher  who, 
although  often  arrested  for  stealing,  con- 
tinues to  hold  a  high  position  in  the  church. 
Their  improvidence  has  passed  into  a 
proverb,  many  being  truly  objects  of  charity ; 
and  whoever  would  now  write  a  true  tale  of 
poverty  and  wretchedness  may  take  for  the 
hero  "  Old  Uncle  Tom  without  a  cabin." 
For  "  Uncle  Tom  "  of  the  olden  time,  in  his 
cabin,  with  a  blazing  log  fire  and  plenty  of 
corn  bread,  and  the  Uncle  Tom  of  to-day, 
are  pictures  of  very  different  individuals. 


19°  *A  G1\L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

REVIEWING  these  sketches  of  our  early 
days,  I  feel  that  they  are  incomplete  with- 
out a  tribute  to  some  of  the  teachers  em- 
ployed to  instruct  us.  Even  in  colonial 
days  our  great-grandfathers  had  been  sent  to 
England  to  be  educated,  so  that  education 
was  considered  all-important  in  our  family, 
especially  with  my  father,  who  exerted  his 
influence  for  public  schools  and  advocated 
teaching  the  negroes  to  read  and  write,  con- 
tending that  this  would  increase  their  value 
as  well  as  their  intelligence. 

Determining  that  my  sister  and  myself 
should  have  proper  educational  advantages, 
he  engaged,  while  we  were  young  children, 
a  most  extraordinary  woman  to  teach  us — a 
Danish  lady,  better  versed  in  many  other 
languages  than  in  our  own.  Her  name 
was  Henriquez,  and  her  masculine  appear- 
ance, mind,  and  manners  were  such  as  to 
strike    terror   into   the   hearts    of    youthful 


*BEFO%E  THE  IV A%  *9r 

pupils.  Having  attended  lectures  at  a  col- 
lege in  Copenhagen  with  several  female 
friends  alike  ambitious  to  receive  a  scientific 
education,  Mme.  Henriquez  scorned  femi- 
nine acquirements  and  acquaintances,  never 
possessing,  to  my  knowledge,  a  needle  or 
thimble.  Her  conversation  was  largely  con- 
fined to  scientific  subjects,  and  was  with 
men  whenever  possible,  rarely  descending 
to  anything  in  common  with  her  own  sex. 
Sometimes  in  school  our  recitations  would 
be  interrupted  by  recollections  of  her  early 
days  in  Copenhagen,  and,  instead  of  pursu- 
ing a  lesson  in  geography  or  grammar,  we 
would  be  entertained  with  some  marvelous 
story  about  her  father's  palace,  the  marble 
stable  for  his  cows,  etc.  In  the  midst  of 
correcting  a  French  or  German  exercise  she 
would  sometimes  order  a  waiter  of  refresh- 
ments to  be  brought  into  the  schoolroom 
and  placed  before  her  on  a  small  table  which 
had  a  history,  being  made,  as  she  often 
related,  from  a  tree  in  her  father's  palace 
grounds,  around  which  the  serfs  danced  on 
the  day  of  their  emancipation.  She  had  a 
favorite  dog  named  Odin  which  was  al- 
lowed the  privilege  of  the  schoolroom,  and 


192  tA   GILL'S  LIFE  IN   VIRGINIA 

any  girl  guilty  of  disrespect  to  Odin  was 
in  serious  disgrace. 

This  Danish  lady  was  succeeded  by  one  of 
a  wholly  different  type,  all  grace  and  ac- 
complishments, a  Virginian,  and  the  widow 
of  Major  Lomax  of  the  United  States  Army. 

Mrs.  Lomax  had  several  accomplished 
daughters  who  assisted  in  her  school,  and 
the  harp,  piano,  and  guitar  were  household 
instruments.  The  eldest  daughter  con- 
tributed stories  and  verses,  which  were 
greatly  admired,  to  periodicals  of  that  day. 
One  of  these  stories,  published  in  a  Northern 
journal,  won  for  her  a  prize  of  one  hundred 
dollars,  and  the  school-girls  were  thrilled  to 
hear  that  she  spent  it  all  for  a  royal  purple 
velvet  gown  to  wear  to  Miss  Preston's  wed- 
ding in  Montgomery  County. 

In  this  school  Mrs.  Lomax  introduced  a 
charming  corps  of  teachers  from  Boston, 
most  cultivated  and  refined  women,  whom 
it  will  always  be  a  pleasure  to  remember. 
Among  these  were  Mrs.  Dana,  with  her 
accomplished  daughter,  Miss  Matilda  Dana, 
well  known  in  the  literary  world  then  as  a 
writer  of  finished  verses. 

We  had  also  a  bright,  sweet-natured  little 


•BEFOTiE  THE  IVAT{.  193 

Frenchwoman,  Mile.  Roget,  who  taught  her 
native  language. 

Besides  these  teachers  we  had  a  German 
gentleman,  a  finished  pianist  and  linguist  ; 
and  the  recollections  of  those  days  are  like 
the  delicious  music  that  floated  around  us 
then  from  those  master-musicians. 

After  such  pleasant  school-days  at  home 
we  were  sent  away  to  a  fashionable  boarding- 
school  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  presided 
over  by  a  lady  of  great  dignity  and  gentle- 
ness of  manner,  combined  with  high  attain- 
ments. She  was  first  Mrs.  Otis  of  Boston, 
and  afterward  Mrs.  Meade  of  Virginia. 

At  her  school  were  collected  many  inter- 
esting teachers  and  pupils.  Among  the 
former  were  Miss  Prescott  of  Boston  and 
Miss  Willis,  sister  of  N.  P.  Willis,  both  lov- 
able and  attractive. 

Among  the  noted  girls  at  Mrs.  Meade's 
school    was   Amelie    Rives  *   of   Albemarle 

*  This  interesting  girl  married  Mr.  Sigourney  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  after  the  war,  as  she  was  crossing  the  ocean 
to  Europe  with  her  husband  and  all  her  children  (except 
one  son)  the  ill-fated  ship  sank  with  nearly  all  on  board. 
We  have  heard  that,  as  the  ship  was  going  down,  Amelie, 
her  husband,  and  her  children  formed  a  circle,  hand  in 
hand,  and  were  thus  buried  in  the  deep. 


194  <A  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

County,  Va.  She  spoke  French  fluently, 
and  seemed  to  know  much  about  Paris  and 
the  French  court,  her  father  having  been 
Minister  to  France. 

We  looked  upon  Amelie  with  great  admi- 
ration, and,  as  she  wrote  very  pretty  poetry, 
every  girl  in  the  school  set  her  heart  upon 
having  some  original  verses  in  her  album,  a 
favor  which  Amelie  never  refused. 

Closing  this  chapter  on  schools  suggests 
the  great  difference  in  the  objects  and 
methods  of  a  Virginia  girl's  education  then 
and  now.  At  that  period  a  girl  was  ex- 
pected not  only  to  be  an  ornament  to  the 
drawing-room,  but  to  be  also  equipped  for 
taking  charge  of  an  establishment  and  super- 
intending every  detail  of  domestic  employ- 
ment on  a  plantation — the  weaving,  knitting, 
sewing,  etc. — for  the  comfort  of  the  negro 
servants  to  be  some  day  under  her  care.  I 
have  thus  seen  girls  laboriously  draw  the 
threads  of  finest  linen,  and  backstitch  miles 
of  stitching  on  their  brothers'  collars  and 
shirt-bosoms.  Having  no  brothers  to  sew 
for,  I  looked  on  in  amazement  at  this  dreary 
task,  and  I  have  since  often  wished  that 
those  persevering  and  devoted  women  could 


*BEFOTiE   THE   WA%.  195 

come  back  and  live  their  lives  over  again  in 
the  days  of  sewing-machines. 

At  that  day  the  parents  of  a  girl  would  have 
shuddered  at  the  thought  of  her  venturing  for 
a  day's  journey  without  an  escort  on  a  railway 
car,  being  jostled  in  a  public  crowd,  or  ex- 
posed in  any  way  to  indiscriminate  contact 
with  the  outside  world,  while  the  proposition 
of  a  collegiate  course  for  a  woman  would  have 
shocked  every  sensibility  of  the  opposite  sex. 

How  the  men  of  that  time  would  stand 
aghast  to  see  the  girl  of  the  present  day 
elbowing  her  way  through  a  crowd,  buying 
her  ticket  at  the  railway  station,  interviewing 
baggage-agents,  checking  trunks,  and  seating 
herself  in  the  train  to  make  a  long  journey 
alone,  perhaps  to  enter  some  strange  com- 
munity and  make  her  living  by  the  practice 
of  law  or  medicine,  lecturing,  teaching,  tele- 
graphing, newspaper-reporting,  typewriting, 
bookkeeping,  or  in  some  other  of  the  various 
avenues  now  open  to  women  ! 

Whether  the  new  system  be  any  improve- 
ment upon  the  old  remains  open  for  discus- 
sion. It  is  certain  that  these  widely  opposed 
methods  must  result  in  wholly  different  types 
of  feminine  character. 


I96  A  Gl%VS  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  scenes  connected  with  the  late  war 
will  recall  to  the  mind  of  every  Southern 
man  and  woman  the  name  of  Robert  E.  Lee 
— a  name  which  will  be  loved  and  revered  as 
long  as  home  or  fireside  remains  in  old  Vir- 
ginia, and  which  sets  the  crowning  glory  on 
the  list  of  illustrious  men  from  plantation 
homes.  Admiration  and  enthusiasm  natu- 
rally belong  to  victory,  but  the  man  must  be 
rare  indeed  who  in  defeat,  like  General  Lee, 
receives  the  applause  of  his  countrymen. 

It  was  not  alone  his  valor,  his  handsome 
appearance,  his  commanding  presence,  his 
perfect  manner,  which  won  the  admiration 
of  his  fellow-men.  There  was  something 
above  and  beyond  all  these — his  true  Chris- 
tian character.  Trust  in  God  ennobled  his 
every  word  and  action.  Among  the  grandest 
of  human  conquerors  was  he,  for,  early  en- 
listing as  a  soldier  of  the  Cross,  to  fight 
against  the  world,  the   flesh,  and   the  devil, 


"BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  1 97 

he  fought  the  "  good  fight,"  and  the  victor's 
crown  awaited  him  in  the  "  kingdom  not 
made  with  hands." 

Trust  in  God  kept  him  calm  in  victory  as 
in  defeat.  When  I  remember  General  Lee 
during  the  war,  in  his  family  circle  at  Rich- 
mond, then  at  the  height  of  his  renown, 
his  manner,  voice,  and  conversation  were  the 
same  as  when,  a  year  after  the  surrender,  he 
came  to  pay  my  mother  a  visit  from  his 
Lexington  home. 

His  circumstances  and  surroundings  were 
now  changed :  no  longer  the  stars  and 
epaulets  adorned  his  manly  form ;  but, 
dressed  in  a  simple  suit  of  pure  white  linen, 
he  looked  a  king,  and  adversity  had  wrought 
no  change  in  his  character,  manner,  or  con- 
versation. 

To  reach  our  house  he  made  a  journey, 
on  his  old  war  horse  "  Traveler,"  forty  miles 
across  the  mountains,  describing  which,  on 
the  night  of  his  arrival,  he  said  : 

"To-day  an  incident  occurred  which  grati- 
fied me  more  than  anything  that  has  hap- 
pened for  a  long  time.  As  I  was  riding 
over  the  most  desolate  mountain  region, 
where  not  even  a  cabin  could  be  seen,  I  was 


198  tA  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

surprised  to  find,  on  a  sudden  turn  in  the 
road,  two  little  girls  playing  on  a  large  rock. 
They  were  very  poorly  clad,  and  after  look- 
ing a  moment  at  me  began  to  run  away. 
'Children,'  said  I,  'don't  run  away.  If  you 
could  know  who  I  am,  you  would  know 
that  I  am  the  last  man  in  the  world  for  any- 
body to  run  from  now.' 

"  '  But  we  do  know  you,'  they  replied. 

"  '  You  never  saw  me  before,'  I  said,  '  for 
I  never  passed  along  here.' 

"  '  But  we  do  know  you,'  they  said.  '  And 
we've  got  your  picture  up  yonder  in  the 
house,  and  you  are  General  Lee!  And  we 
aint  dressed  clean  enough  to  see  you.' 

"  With  this  they  scampered  off  to  a  poor 
low  hut  on  the  mountain  side." 

It  was  gratifying  to  him  to  find  that  even 
in  this  lonely  mountain  hut  the  children  had 
been  taught  to  know  and  revere  him. 

He  told  us,  too,  of  a  man  he  met  the  same 
day  in  a  dense  forest,  who  recognized  him, 
and,  throwing  up  his  hat  in  the  air,  said : 
"  General,  please  let  me  cheer  you,"  and  fell 
to  cheering  with  all  his  lungs ! 

My  last    recollections    of    General    Lee, 


'BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  199 

when  making  a  visit  of  several  weeks  at  his 
house  the  year  before  his  death,  although 
not  coming  properly  under  the  head  of 
"  plantation  reminiscences,"  may  not  be  inap- 
propriate here. 

It  has  been  said  that  a  man  is  never  a 
hero  to  his  valet;  but  this  could  not  have 
been  said  of  General  Lee,  for  those  most 
intimately  connected  with  him  could  not 
fail  to  see  continually  in  his  bearing  and 
character  something  above  the  ordinary 
level,  something  of  the  hero. 

At  the  time  of  my  visit  the  Commence- 
ment exercises  of  the  college  of  which  he 
was  president  were  going  on.  His  duties 
were  necessarily  onerous.  Sitting  up  late  at 
night  with  the  board  of  visitors,  and  attend- 
ing to  every  detail  with  his  conscientious 
particularity,  there  was  little  time  for  him  to 
rest.  Yet  every  morning  of  that  busy  week 
he  was  ready,  with  his  prayer-book  under 
his  arm,  when  the  church  bell  called  its 
members  to  sunrise  service. 

It  is  pleasant  to  recall  all  that  he  said  at 
the  breakfast,  dinner,  and  tea  table,  where  in 
his  hospitality  he  always  insisted  upon  bring- 
ing all  who  chanced  to  be  at  his  house  at 


200  jf   GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

those  hours — on  business  or  on  social  call.* 
This  habit  kept  his  table  filled  with  guests, 
who  received  from  him  the  most  graceful 
courtesy. 

Only  once  did  I  hear  him  speak  regretfully 
of  the  past.  It  was  one  night  when,  sitting 
by  him  on  the  porch  in  the  moonlight,  he 
said  to  me,  his  thoughts  turning  to  his  early 
childhood : 

"It  was  not  my  mother's  wish  that  I 
should  receive  a  military  education,  and  I 
ought  to  have  taken  her  advice ;  for,"  he 
continued  very  sadly,  "  my  education  did 
not  fit  me  for  this  civil  life." 

In  this  no  one  could  agree  with  him,  for 
it  seemed  to  all  that  he  adorned  and  satis- 
factorily filled  every  position  in  life,  civil  or 
military. 

There  was  something  in  his  manner 
which  naturally  pleased  everyone  without  his 
making  an  effort ;  at  the  same  time  a  dig- 
nity and  reserve  which  commanded  respect 

*  Here  was  seen  the  Mount  Vernon  silver,  which  had 
descended  to  Mrs.  General  Washington's  great-grandson, 
General  Custis  Lee,  and  which  was  marvelously  preserved 
during  the  war,  having  been  concealed  in  different  places — 
and  once  was  buried  near  Lexington  in  a  barn  which  was 
occupied  by  the  enemy  several  days. 


'BEFORE  THE  IV A%.  201 

and  precluded  anything  like  undue  familiar- 
ity. All  desirable  qualities  seemed  united 
in  him  to  render  him  popular. 

It  was  wonderful  to  observe — in  the  even- 
ings when  his  parlors  were  overflowing  with 
people,  young  and  old,  from  every  conceiv- 
able place — how  by  a  word,  a  smile,  a  shake 
of  the  hand,  he  managed  to  give  all  pleasure 
and  satisfaction,  each  going  away  charmed 
with  him. 

The  applause  of  men  excited  in  him  no 
vanity;  for  those  around  soon  learned  that 
the  slightest  allusion  or  compliment,  in  his 
presence,  to  his  valor  or  renown,  instead 
of  pleasing,  rather  offended  him.  Without 
vanity,  he  was  equally  without  selfishness. 

One  day,  observing  several  quaint  articles 
of  furniture  about  his  house,  and  asking  Mrs. 
Lee  where  they  came  from,  she  told  me  that 
an  old  lady  in  New  York  city — of  whom 
neither  herself  nor  the  general  had  ever 
before  heard — concluded  to  break  up  house- 
keeping. Having  no  family,  and  not  wishing 
to  sell  or  remove  her  furniture  to  a  boarding- 
house,  she  determined  to  give  it  to  "  the 
greatest  living  man,"  and  that  man  was 
General  Lee. 


202  ji  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VI%GWIA 

She  wrote  a  letter  asking  his  acceptance 
of  the  present,  requesting  that,  if  his  house 
was  already  furnished  and  he  had  no  room, 
he  would  use  the  articles  about  his  college. 

The  boxes  arrived.  But — such  was  his 
reluctance  at  receiving  gifts — weeks  passed 
and  he  neither  had  them  opened  nor  brought 
to  his  house  from  the  express  office. 

Finally,  as  their  house  was  quite  bare  of 
furniture,  Mrs.  Lee  begged  him  to  allow  her 
to  have  them  opened,  and  he  consented. 

First  there  was  among  the  contents  a 
beautiful  carpet  large  enough  for  two  rooms, 
at  which  she  was  delighted,  as  they  had 
none.  But  the  general,  seeing  it,  quickly 
said  :  "  That  is  the  very  thing  for  the  floor 
of  the  new  chapel  !     It  must  be  put  there." 

Next  were  two  sofas  and  a  set  of  chairs. 
"  The  very  things  we  want,"  again  exclaimed 
the  general,  "  for  the  platform  of  the  new 
chapel  ! " 

Then  they  unpacked  a  sideboard.  "  This 
will  do  very  well"  said  the  general,  "  to  be 
placed  in  the  basement  of  the  chapel  to 
hold  the  college  papers  !  " 

And  so  with  everything  the  lady  had  sent, 
only  keeping  for  his  own  house  the  articles 


"BEFOTiE   THE  W "A%  203 

which  could  not  possibly  be  used  for  the 
college  or  chapel, — a  quaint  work-table,  an 
ornamental  clock,  and  some  old-fashioned 
preserve-dishes — although  his  own  house 
was  then  bare  enough,  and  the  donor  had 
particularly  requested  that  only  those  arti- 
cles which  they  did  not  need  at  their  home 
should  go  to  the  college. 

The  recollection  of  this  visit,  although 
reviving  many  pleasant  hours,  is  very  sad, 
for  it  was  the  last  time  I  saw  the  dear,  kind 
face  of  Mrs.  Lee,  of  whom  the  general 
once  said,  when  one  of  us,  alluding  to  him, 
used  the  word  "  hero  ":  "  My  dear,  Mrs.  Lee 
is  the  hero.  For  although  deprived  of  the 
use  of  her  limbs  by  suffering,  and  unable  for 
ten  years  to  walk,  I  have  never  heard  her 
murmur  or  utter  one  complaint." 

And  the  general  spoke  truly, — Mrs.  Lee 
was  a  heroine.  With  gentleness,  kindness, 
and  true  feminine  delicacy,  she  had  strength 
of  mind  and  character  a  man  might  have  en- 
vied. Her  mind,  well  stored  and  cultivated, 
made  her  interesting  in  conversation  ;  and 
a  simple  cordiality  of  manner  made  her 
beloved  by  all  who  met  her. 

During  this  last    visit    she    loved    to  tell 


204  <A   GI%L'S  LIFE  IN   VIRGINIA 

about  her  early  days  at  Arlington — her 
own  and  her  ancestors'  plantation  home — 
and  in  one  of  these  conversations  gave  me 
such  a  beautiful  sketch  of  her  mother — 
Mrs.  Custis — that  I  wish  her  every  word 
could  be  remembered  that  I  might  write  it 
here. 

Mrs.  Custis  was  a  woman  of  saintly  piety, 
her  devotion  to  good  works  having  long 
been  a  theme  with  all  in  that  part  of  Vir- 
ginia. She  had  only  one  child — Mrs.  Lee — 
and  possessed  a  very  large  fortune.  In  early 
life  she  felt  that  God  had  given  her  a  spe- 
cial mission,  which  was  to  take  care  of  and 
teach  the  three  hundred  negroes  she  had 
inherited. 

"  Believing  this,"  said  Mrs.  Lee  to  me, 
"  my  mother  devoted  the  best  years  of  her 
life  to  teaching  these  negroes,  for  which 
purpose  she  had  a  school-house  built  in  the 
yard,  and  gave  her  life  up  to  this  work ;  and 
I  think  it  an  evidence  of  the  ingratitude  of 
their  race  that,  although  I  have  long  been  af- 
flicted, only  one  of  those  negroes  has  written 
to  inquire  after  me,  or  offered  to  nurse  me." 

These  last  years  of  Mrs.  Lee's  life  were 
passed  in  much  suffering,  she  being  unable  to 


^BEFO^E   THE   WA%.  205 

move  any  part  of  her  body  except  her  hands 
and  head.  Yet  her  time  was  devoted  to 
working  for  her  church.  Her  fingers  were 
always  busy  with  fancy-work,  painting,  or 
drawing, — she  was  quite  an  accomplished 
artist, — the  results  of  which  were  sold  for 
the  purpose  of  repairing  and  beautifying  the 
church  in  sight  of  her  window,  and  as  much 
an  object  of  zeal  and  affection  with  her  as 
the  chapel  was  with  the  general. 

Indeed,  the  whole  family  entered  into  the 
general's  enthusiasm  about  this  chapel,  just 
then  completed,  especially  his  daughter 
Agnes,  with  whom  I  often  went  there,  little 
thinking  it  was  so  soon  to  be  her  place  of 
burial. 

In  a  few  short  years  all  three — General 
Lee,  his  wife  and  daughter — were  laid  here 
to  rest,  and  this  chapel  they  had  loved  so 
well   became    their   tomb. 


2o6  <a  G1%L'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 


CHAPTER  XX. 

All  plantation  reminiscences  resemble  a 
certain  patchwork,  made  when  we  were 
children,  of  bright  pieces  joined  with  black 
squares.  The  black  squares  were  not  pretty, 
but  if  left  out  the  character  of  the  quilt  was 
lost.  And  so  with  the  black  faces — if  left 
out  of  our  home  pictures  of  the  past,  the 
character  of  the  picture  is  destroyed. 

What  I  have  written  is  a  simple  record  of 
facts  in  my  experience,  without  an  imaginary 
scene  or  character ;  intended  for  the  de- 
scendants of  those  who  owned  slaves  in  the 
South,  and  who  may  in  future  wish  to  know 
something  of  the  lofty  character  and  vir- 
tues of  their  ancestors. 

The  pictures  are  strictly  true  ;  and  should 
it  be  thought  by  any  that  the  brightest  have 
alone  been  selected,  I  can  only  say  I  knew 
no  others. 

It  would  not  be  possible  for  any  country 
to  be  entirely  exempt  from  crime  and  wick- 


"BEFOTiE  THE  WA%.  207 

edness,  and  in  Virginia,  too,  these  existed  ; 
for  prisons,  penitentiaries,  and  courts  of  jus- 
tice were  here,  as  elsewhere,  necessary  ;  but 
it  is  my  sincere  belief  that  the  majority  of 
Southern  people  were  true  and  good.  And 
that  they  have  accomplished  more  than  any 
other  nation  toward  civilizing  and  elevating 
the  negro  race  may  be  shown  from  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph  in  a  late  magazine  : 

"  From  a  very  early  date  the  French  had 
their  establishment  on  the  western  coast  of 
Africa.  In  1364  their  ships  visited  that  por- 
tion of  the  world.  But  with  all  this  long 
intercourse  with  the  white  man  the  natives 
have  profited  little.  Five  centuries  have  not 
civilized  them,  so  as  to  be  able  to  build  up 
institutions  of  their  own.  Yet  the  French 
have  always  succeeded  better  than  the 
English  with  the  negro  and  Indian  element." 

Civilization  and  education  are  slow  ;  for, 
says  a  modern  writer  : 

"  After  the  death  of  Roman  intellectual 
activity,  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries 
were  justly  called  dark.  If  Christianity  was 
to  be  one  of  the  factors  in  producing  the 
present  splendid  enlightenment,  she  had  no 
time  to  lose,  and  she  lost  no  time.     She  was 


208  ji  GILL'S  LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA 

the  only  power  at  that  day  that  could  begin 
the  work  of  enlightenment.  And,  starting 
at  the  very  bottom,  she  wrought  for  nine 
hundred  years  alone.  The  materials  she  had 
to  work  upon  were  stubborn  and  unmalle- 
able.  For  one  must  be  somewhat  civilized 
to  have  a  taste  for  knowledge  at  all ;  and  one 
must  know  something  to  be  civilized  at  all. 
She  had  to  carry  on  the  double  work  of  civ- 
ilizing and  educating.  Her  progress  was 
necessarily  slow  at  first.  But  after  some 
centuries  it  began  to  increase  in  arithmet- 
ical progression  until  the  sixteenth  century." 

Then  our  ancestors  performed  a  great 
work — the  work  allotted  them  by  God,  civ- 
ilizing and  elevating  an  inferior  race  in  the 
scale  of  intelligence  and  comfort.  That  this 
race  may  continue  to  improve,  and  finally 
be  the  means  of  carrying  the  Gospel  into 
their  native  Africa,  should  be  the  prayer  of 
every  earnest  Christian. 

Never  again  will  the  negroes  find  a  people 
so  kind  and  true  to  them  as  the  Southerners 
have  been. 

There  is  much  in  our  lives  not  intended 
for  us  to  comprehend  or  explain ;  but,  be- 
lieving that  nothing  happens  by  chance,  and 


'BEFOTiE   THE   WA%.  209 

that  our  forefathers  have  done  their  duty  in 
the  place  it  had  pleased  God  to  call  them, 
let  us  cherish  their  memory,  and  remember 
that  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth. 

"  For  he  who  rules  each  wondrous  star, 
And  marks  the  feeble  sparrow's  fall, 
Controls  the  destiny  of  man, 

And  guides  events  however  small. 

"  Man's  place  of  birth,  his  home,  his  friends, 
Are  planned  and  fixed  by  God  alone — 
'  Life's  lot  is  cast ' — e'en  death  he  sends 
For  some  wise  purpose  of  his  own." 


THE   END. 


. 


